jessshine's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This review contains a spoiler****
The series started strong and then kind of struggled a bit the last 2 books. This was an OK ending to the trilogy but got bogged down in too much political intrigue that seemed too simplistic and frankly too boring -- the whole question of whether the countries would vote for magic vs no-magic just seemed kind of boring and overshadowed the more intriguing plot with the wolves. This book also really blurred the lines between good and evil but never even acknowledged it -- our heroes did something truly terrible and performed some seriously black magic toward the end -- completely possessing an innocent person and taking away their agency -- to resolve the plot but it wasn't even acknowledged that what they did was at all wrong. It would have been interesting if the point had been to cast everyone in a morally grey light, but the heroes were clearly supposed to be the good saviors fighting against the evil villians and it wasn't even acknowledged that they did something pretty heinous themselves.
**Also, there are an increasing number of plot holes, typos, and editing mistakes as the series goes on. The first book was pretty tightly edited, but in the last 2, the author frequently loses track of time -- saying weeks and months interchangeably and sometimes introducing plot points that make 0 sense given the amount of time that has passed. She also consistently writes "sewed" when she means "sowed" which made me question my sanity, lol.
Despite all that, I did enjoy these 3 books overall. I would have rated the first as a 4 even if the last 2 were just 3 stars. They were entertaining reads and I enjoyed the characters, their sweet love story, and the world she created.
The series started strong and then kind of struggled a bit the last 2 books. This was an OK ending to the trilogy but got bogged down in too much political intrigue that seemed too simplistic and frankly too boring -- the whole question of whether the countries would vote for magic vs no-magic just seemed kind of boring and overshadowed the more intriguing plot with the wolves. This book also really blurred the lines between good and evil but never even acknowledged it -- our heroes did something truly terrible and performed some seriously black magic toward the end -- completely possessing an innocent person and taking away their agency -- to resolve the plot but it wasn't even acknowledged that what they did was at all wrong. It would have been interesting if the point had been to cast everyone in a morally grey light, but the heroes were clearly supposed to be the good saviors fighting against the evil villians and it wasn't even acknowledged that they did something pretty heinous themselves.
**Also, there are an increasing number of plot holes, typos, and editing mistakes as the series goes on. The first book was pretty tightly edited, but in the last 2, the author frequently loses track of time -- saying weeks and months interchangeably and sometimes introducing plot points that make 0 sense given the amount of time that has passed. She also consistently writes "sewed" when she means "sowed" which made me question my sanity, lol.
Despite all that, I did enjoy these 3 books overall. I would have rated the first as a 4 even if the last 2 were just 3 stars. They were entertaining reads and I enjoyed the characters, their sweet love story, and the world she created.
fireading's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
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