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A review by kitvaria_sarene
Empire of Shadows by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
4.0
A good conclusion to a fascinating series!
While Blood of Heirs started of a bit on the easier side and almost had a bit of a YA feel at times, the story gets continually darker all the way through.
So by book three we're definitely firmly in a dark fantasy setting, with enough grit and grim topics to feel like a rather bleak place, yet with a spark of hope.
I really enjoyed following the characters from almost naive teens to adults who have to make horrible but necessary decisions. The world isn't save, and you getter grow up fast. The character ARCs felt quite realistic, and I especially liked how traumatic events actually had long term effects and consequences. So often horrendous stuff happens and then it's shrugged off as if it was nothing.
We also get Sellan as a POV character, and I LOVED reading about her past, her motivations and her goals. I always like a "villain" I can understand a lot more than evil for evils sake.
That bit is also a main reason why I only give 4* - because the new enemy is definitely just awful because that's who they are. It felt a bit shallow and made the whole end feel a bit less gripping than I'd have expected from the set up.
Not a bad end by any means, but just not on par with how much I enjoyed everything up to the final showdown.
There's an epilogue that I don't know how I feel about, as I like the added mystery and twist, but it also feels a bit like an afterthought, than an "aha moment" seeded well through the story.
However I did love the main characters, and I definitely want more books that have loyalties, families, betrayal and friendship at their heart, and romance just as a small part of all the bigger picture and structures. I started to care a lot about all of these characters, and will be very sorry to not have them around longer, though the openness to the end definitely would allow for return appearances...
While Blood of Heirs started of a bit on the easier side and almost had a bit of a YA feel at times, the story gets continually darker all the way through.
So by book three we're definitely firmly in a dark fantasy setting, with enough grit and grim topics to feel like a rather bleak place, yet with a spark of hope.
I really enjoyed following the characters from almost naive teens to adults who have to make horrible but necessary decisions. The world isn't save, and you getter grow up fast. The character ARCs felt quite realistic, and I especially liked how traumatic events actually had long term effects and consequences. So often horrendous stuff happens and then it's shrugged off as if it was nothing.
We also get Sellan as a POV character, and I LOVED reading about her past, her motivations and her goals. I always like a "villain" I can understand a lot more than evil for evils sake.
That bit is also a main reason why I only give 4* - because the new enemy is definitely just awful because that's who they are. It felt a bit shallow and made the whole end feel a bit less gripping than I'd have expected from the set up.
Not a bad end by any means, but just not on par with how much I enjoyed everything up to the final showdown.
There's an epilogue that I don't know how I feel about, as I like the added mystery and twist, but it also feels a bit like an afterthought, than an "aha moment" seeded well through the story.
However I did love the main characters, and I definitely want more books that have loyalties, families, betrayal and friendship at their heart, and romance just as a small part of all the bigger picture and structures. I started to care a lot about all of these characters, and will be very sorry to not have them around longer, though the openness to the end definitely would allow for return appearances...