CAWPILE Rating: 8,03
Characters: 9,25
Ambient / Worldbuilding: 8,5
Writing style: 2,75
Plot: 7,75
Intrigue: 10
Logic / Relationships: 8
Enjoyment: 10

He de decir que me ha gustado bastante y que el final de esta maravillosa tetralogía es bastante decente. Evidentemente, hay cosas que me han gustado y cosas que no, y hay algunos detalles con los que no estoy especialmente complacida, pero aun así, lo he disfrutado mucho. Lo he leído prácticamente de una sentada.

Mi problema con esta entrega ha sido el mismo que llevaba arrastrando durante toda la saga, que es una combinación del estilo de escritura con la traducción al español. Me gustaría muchísimo poder decirle a la editorial que los ha publicado que por favor los revisaran, porque hay un montón de cositas mejorables (he encontrado doble espacios, errores de traducción, de concordancia...) que no creo se encuentren en el original.

Recomendaría muchísimo leer esta saga porque merece bastante la pena, aunque sí avisaría que se hiciera en su versión original para evitar los problemas que he mencionado. Por este motivo, no creo que vuelva a leer la saga, por lo menos en las ediciones que compré. Si lo hiciera, sería definitivamente en inglés.

Update 2/6/2020:
Was thinking about this book the other day and I’m lowering my rating to 3 stars because I just can’t get over the ending and the fact that my favorite queen was killed off unnecessarily...so many missed opportunities. The ending was exactly what we, as readers, were hoping to avoid. But that’s the ending we got. Sigh. I love this series so much but this ending man...now I really want to cry. So disappointed.

4.5/5 stars.

I can’t believe it’s over. Such a bittersweet ending. Will forever love my queens and Fennbirn.

However, I didn’t feel as emotionally immersed as I thought I would be. The first half of the book kind of dragged for me. Maybe because I wasn’t fully concentrated on the book, and had other things on my mind? I’m not really sure. I’m surprised I didn’t sob, although I did tear up. Maybe I’ll give it a re-read in the future and give that half a star back if I find myself in the mood and the chance to fully immerse myself in the finale of my favorite series.

Nonetheless, I can’t believe there will be no more adventures in Fennbirn, and will always love this series with all my heart.

3.75 stelle!

Un'altra serie che si è conclusa, un altro libro finale che mi è piaciuto, ma non mi ha convinto al 100%. Il libro è iniziato in modo abbastanza lento tendente al noioso, facendomi quasi perdere interesse. Verso la metà si è ripreso, dando il massimo nelle ultime cento pagine.
Fatto negativo è che la scrittrice non da' il tempo al lettore di apprendere le svolte più importanti della narrazione. Un momento sta succedendo questo fatto e quello dopo un'altro personaggio si trova già in un altro luogo. Ammetto che una volta mi ci sono volute un paio di pagine per capire cosa era successo, soprattutto quando un personaggio moriva non c'era il tempo per il lettore di interiorizzare la sua morte. Lo stile della Blake, però, mi piace ancora e adoro come gioca con i suoi personaggi; inoltre è una delle poche scrittrice ya che non ha paura di uccidere i suoi protagonisti e per questo l'apprezzo. Il finale è molto aperto per i miei gusti, preferisco un finale che sia più definito e una chiusura per tutti i personaggi, soprattutto se la storia non avrà un sequel. Però ho avuto la possibilità di leggere il secondo epilogo, che non è riuscito a rispondere a tutte le mie domande, ma ha risposto forse alla più pressante di esse.
Five Dark Fates è una conclusione interessante e discreta, ma ritengo che la scrittrice non abbia utilizzato a dovere tutto il potenziale che aveva tra le mani.

Wrap-Up Ottobre 2019: https://spillthebook.blogspot.com/2019/10/wrap-up-ottobre.html

Find this review and more on my blog at Worlds Unlike Our Own.

3.5 stars

In the aftermath of the battle, Katharine still holds the throne and the rebellion has retreated to Sunpool to figure out how to handle Jules' unleashed legion curse. Fennbirn is gearing up for war, and with the rebellion to deal with on one front, the dead queens on another and the murderous mist on a third, Katharine already has her plate full even before Mirabella shows up.

The first three quarters of this book was excellent, building up the political intrigue and beautifully depicting the perspectives of each character as they fought to overcome the various obstacles in their paths. While the rebellion was dealing with Jules' legion curse, Katharine and Mirabella investigated the Mist further. I particularly enjoyed Mirabella's time at court and the way the author depicted her relationship with Katharine - a very different one from her dynamic with Arsinoe. Despite everything though, they do eventually come to trust each other, as above all else, the queens are still sisters first.

Just a warning, serious spoilers ahead.

I maintain my opinion from the previous book that this rebellion plotline is ridiculous, and Jules has no business being any kind of queen. This story started out as a face off between three sisters and it should have stayed that way. For an island who demands that the queens of each generation to fight to the death as a matter of tradition, the people of Fennbirn seem awfully receptive to such drastic change, and the lay of the land in this final book is very different from the original premise.

Unfortunately, while I was really enjoying this book for the first part, from there on it was an infuriating series of conveniences along with the pacing being very rushed. So many plot lines, just wasted. The ending just ruined all the amazing build up, and that's not even mentioning the many plot holes that are never addressed. For starters, how did Emilia manage to kidnap Pietyr single handedly from within a Poisoner stronghold? Pietyr waking up and suddenly being on their side is very out of character too, considering how loyal he has been to Katharine all this time - he who travelled to the Breccia domain just to find out what happened to her, and went as far as low magic to save her. He gave up on Katharine far too easily to be believable, and honestly, it might have been better if he just stayed unconscious.

And my biggest pet peeve about this series, the nature of low magic. In Five Dark Fates, it just seems awfully convenient that Arsinoe, who is hardly a skilled practitioner, is able to not only figure out how to bind Jules' Legion curse, but also wake up Pietyr and use it to fight the dead queens. We're told many times through the series that low magic has a cost - in Madrigal's case, her life - it seems that Arsinoe, for some reason is the exception. I suppose Mirabella's death could be considered the cost, but it's hardly a parallel compared to the other examples throughout the story. It really irked me that Arsinoe was the last one left standing as I find her character irritating more than anything.

Then there is the Mist, which is never really resolved. The whole story of Daphne and Illiann seems kind of redundant now, especially since it is never clearly explained why, if the Mist came for the dead queens, it was harming the civilians? And that line about how the Mist was made by the death of an elemental, and can only be unmade by another - is that even true, since Mirabella's death seemed to have had no effect on it? In fact, it was used more as a plot device to give the rebellion even more of a reason to portray Katharine as a monster. Mirabella is not a character I particularly like, but for such a beloved and powerfully gifted queen, she deserved better than such an anticlimactic end. This was really the point where the book started going downhill, in my opinion.

At the end of all this, what really upset me about this book was that Katharine was left looking the villain, when she is one of the best morally complex characters I've ever read. She knew what was coming all along, what price she would have to pay to rid herself of the dead queens, and her composure throughout was remarkable. She really did try to be a good queen despite the nature of her upbringing, and the manner of her end did not do her justice at all. Katharine deserved so much better.

Overall, I'm going to be leaving my rating at 3.5 stars for this one, if only because I so enjoyed the initial parts of the book, no matter how disappointing the ending turned out to be. I was in no way, expecting a happily ever after out of this series, but I did expect better than this ending from one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I know I've complained far more than praised in this review, but Five Dark Fates was as riveting a read as the previous books. It was great to return to the world of Fennbirn one last time and I would still recommend this series as a whole.