Reviews with content warning for Blood - War Storm

My first thoughts upon finishing this series finale were, ‘finally.’
After a promising first book, I fell in love with this world. The divide felt believable rather than random, the characters were realistic in their advantages and faults and I instantly fell in love with the chemistry between the Mare and Cal.
Unfortunately, this was not continued through the rest of the series.
The plot was interesting, far too descriptive to the point of going off on tangents and better suited to television, but enough to *just about* push me along. However, now I have finished, I kind of wish I had just read a book description on google and start a more suited book to what I wanted.
If you’re about to read this book finale and hoping for that enemies to lovers romance it was marketed as, find another book.

Content Warnings

taymariereads's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

frenchtoast_n_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I've got to think about my rating.

I can't say this was a whirlwind but it wasn't a snail either. The pacing was appropriate during the battles and the space between battles that were meant for character development and political intrigue.

The characters were not as whiny as the 3rd book but I can't say the character development over the last 3 books worked with where the characters ended up by the end of this book. It felt wishy-washy.

Also, the end didn't feel like a solid conclusion to a series. I can appreciate the "rome wasn't built in a day" feel to the end because you can't "fix" a country quickly after a rebellion and external war in one book. However, it does make the book series feel incomplete. If the novella bind-up helps solidify the series conclusion, maybe I'll give it a chance.

(Let me know because I seriously never read novellas that are tied to a series.)

All-in-all, this book was a solid book but it wasn't a solid conclusion to a series. It made me feel luke warm as I read the last couple of chapters.

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