I want to scream right now. 

Without giving too much away I hate the emotion earthquake my heart just got put through. But I also stupidly enjoyed it. Clearly I’m a masochist. 

I have had this sitting on my up next pile for the last 3 months and I wish I’d read it sooner. I go through books quickly, but this one felt like a blink. I couldn’t stop myself from listening to it and was so invested in every branch of this story. I fell back in love with all the characters instantly. 

Cory is the ultimate morally grey book boyfriend. He and Harriston are put in truly terrible situations, and they both make bad calls, or are forced to pick the lesser of two evils often. Lochlan is a person who’s been backed into a corner and is ready to claw his way out and Tessa is a pure hearted woman who does lean to being naive but refuses to stop trying to do the right thing. This series explores so many morally grey characters and terrible choices from so many sides. Even “captain Blackmore” ends up being greyer than he starts out. This series forces you to think and face the fact that even the best of intentions can have costs and the worst seeming people have reasons for their behaviour. So if that’s up your alley start the series!!!! It doesn’t disappoint. Just be prepared to shed some tears. 

The end of the book might feel a bit rushed to some, but I appreciate that it’s not all wrapped up in a neat and tidy bow within weeks of the climax, as too much is left falling apart for that to be realistic, but I also recognize that to write months worth of detailed ongoings would have needed another book. So while at times it feels like a summary there are enough important moments inserted between the info dropping that I think it ended up being a good medium between the two options. 

The last two books in this series really went hard on the character-driven writing. I thought overall this one was slightly better than book 2, but ultimately still a bit of a let down in the way the story was told. Basically there was too much telling and not enough showing. Example

we're just told at the end that a truce/agreement whatever between Kandala and Ostriary is reached... but wasn't that kinda the a big thing in this book? so why is it just one line like "oh yeah that happened, s'all good"

Plot pacing, because it was so character driven, was also an issue. I felt like the beginning really dragged, and the ending felt a bit rushed to get to our final conclusion. 

Which is a shame because I think the overall analogy of Kandala, the sickness etc is fitting at least in the US where our healthcare system is a nightmare. I thought the political parts of this series were the strongest points and I guess I just wish that was a bit more of the focus. Not that I dislike reading about these character's interactions (because the main characters are great!), I just wanted more political tension I guess?

Harristan is my favorite character and this is really his book imo. Will forever be screaming about certain chapters in this book!

Also I just wanna say, I KNEW it!