A review by librarykate
Freedom's Slave by Heather Demetrios

4.0

Nalia, now free of Malek, is on her way through the Eye back to Arjinna. She's ready to take her place as Empress, but all seems to be lost when she is unable to find her way back to the others after a battle. Zenari, on the point of death, leads the rest of the Jinn but most leave Nalia behind. Raif struggles on finding unlikely allies while doing his best to lead the tavrai and put his life back together without Nalia.

I enjoyed this book, but I think it would be better classified as New Adult rather than Young Adult. These are some of the most detailed sex scenes I have read in YA literature. I would hand this to fans of Sarah Maas, but would be careful who I recommended it to. There is a lot of sex, swearing, and violent death. Certainly not for the faint of heart.

Even as I make that disclaimer, I must say that I really enjoyed

Spoiler

Nalia's story and progression. I enjoyed watching her become empress and right the wrongs done by her people

. As the conclusion to the trilogy, Freedom's Slave was exactly what the series needed. Characters grew and changed. Horrific evil happens, but hope comes from the ashes of a destroyed community.

Just one issue. Nalia's adventures in the eye are typed on gray pages as opposed to white pages.

Spoiler

When Raif saw Nalia with the Phoenix and believed her to be dead, I knew that she wasn't because there was still one more section of gray pages. Maybe this is a small thing since I wouldn't put it past Demetrios to kill Nalia. She certainly killed many other beloved characters, and Nalia wasn't the only main character/narrator of the story.

Being able to see the upcoming gray pages really took away the suspense for me.