Astrid Hawk
Much more of a tragedy than the preceding two books in the series, and the ending was a bit dissatisfying - I feel like it was a bit rushed, sort of abruptly ending just a few minutes after the action stopped. So many questions left unanswered - although I suppose since half the cast of characters is gone, there wasn't going to be a good way to continue the story to answer them.
The introduction of some magical beasts from another realm that I won't name here also seemed a bit... haphazard? Rushed? I really thought they'd come into play in the end somehow, but they just kind of dropped out of the picture. Perhaps a topic for a future Book 4 (although again, half the cast is gone, so I think the series is considered complete).
On the positive side, I thought the pacing of this one was much better - there was a bit of stage-setting in the beginning that was slower, some recapping of the previous books, but it felt minimal, and the rest of it was pretty consistently building toward the end. I also thought Livingston did a much better job really developing the characters and their relationships in this book than in the previous two. Caden, Shay, Aleera, and Tew - apologies if I'm misspelling the names since I listened to the audio book - especially did a lot of growing in this one (some of which was begun in book 2, but they really seemed to come a long way in understanding themselves and the world in this one).
Overall the series was an enjoyable, easy listen - a good break from my usual nonfiction history or social justice fare. A fun escapist adventure you can just enjoy without thinking too hard about the world, and heroically humble characters you can easily root for.
Much more of a tragedy than the preceding two books in the series, and the ending was a bit dissatisfying - I feel like it was a bit rushed, sort of abruptly ending just a few minutes after the action stopped. So many questions left unanswered - although I suppose since half the cast of characters is gone, there wasn't going to be a good way to continue the story to answer them.
The introduction of some magical beasts from another realm that I won't name here also seemed a bit... haphazard? Rushed? I really thought they'd come into play in the end somehow, but they just kind of dropped out of the picture. Perhaps a topic for a future Book 4 (although again, half the cast is gone, so I think the series is considered complete).
On the positive side, I thought the pacing of this one was much better - there was a bit of stage-setting in the beginning that was slower, some recapping of the previous books, but it felt minimal, and the rest of it was pretty consistently building toward the end. I also thought Livingston did a much better job really developing the characters and their relationships in this book than in the previous two. Caden, Shay, Aleera, and Tew - apologies if I'm misspelling the names since I listened to the audio book - especially did a lot of growing in this one (some of which was begun in book 2, but they really seemed to come a long way in understanding themselves and the world in this one).
Overall the series was an enjoyable, easy listen - a good break from my usual nonfiction history or social justice fare. A fun escapist adventure you can just enjoy without thinking too hard about the world, and heroically humble characters you can easily root for.