This book was a total roller coaster of emotions. It made me grin, giggle out loud and also gasp and cry uncontrollably.

The thing that really sold this book and series was the relationships between characters and how they all felt so real and raw and beautiful. The brotherly love between Corrick and Harristan felt so true even though they were separated. Tessa and Corrick still stole my heart, but honestly I enjoyed other romantic relationships more. 

The relationship between Quint and Harristan was something I'd desperately wanted since book 1 and it was in my opinion the best romance of the series. Killing them both was the most devastating part, but it was still beautiful and the way it happened was on par for the relationship they'd built through the book.

The book just had the perfect ending too. When everything seemed settled, the ending just really shocked me.

I'm really thrilled Harristan and Quint lived in the end, they deserved it and their ending is so beautiful.

 

Put it simply, this book just thrilled me the whole way through. 

Strong ending to the series, the climax comes really fast but a very satisfying conclusion.

So many moments made me laugh, and I also definitely cried at one point. That alone is enough for me to rate this 5 stars!

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!