Alizée
What a story. Seriously—*what a book.*
Like with the rest of this series, I’m walking away feeling a bit torn. The world and characters? Easy five stars for me. I love them. But the storytelling itself can feel *heavy*—and at times, honestly, exhausting. I wanted to be completely hooked the whole way through, but the constant battles started to blur together after a while. Yes, the world is ending, Gabriel is (once again) on the brink of death, and Dior and Celene are juggling faith, feelings, and politics—but still, it got a bit repetitive.
That said, the ending *really* saved it for me. That’s when I finally got that “okay, now I need to know what happens next” feeling—and it went beyond what I expected. Around the 80% mark, I had fully accepted we were heading toward a bleak, closed ending for Gabriel and Celene… and then the book pulled the rug out from under me. The twist was so well done. Jean-François slowly realizing something was off? You could *feel* his confusion, his shock, and especially his helplessness in those final moments. It made everything click in a way that almost made me forgive some of the inconsistencies in the retelling. Honestly, I’ll take it.
Even though the book *felt* long, it definitely takes you through it emotionally. There’s so much loss that, at some point, you start losing hope right alongside the characters. Every loss hits—but the one that got me the most was Ashdrinker. She’s always just *there*, such a constant presence at Gabriel’s side that I didn’t even think of her as a separate character at times—more like this sharp, loyal, slightly charming extension of him. So when it becomes clear she’s damaged, that she might break… yeah, that one hurt. It felt like a quiet but devastating sacrifice.
I still loved De León’s wisdom (as always), and even Celene—though I have to admit, their constant back-and-forth started to frustrate me. The whole “we could kill each other” thing gets said *a lot*… and yet, nothing ever happens. They circle each other endlessly, and while Jean-François finds it entertaining, you can tell it’s going to be his downfall. And by the end, you really see just how good Celene and Gabriel are at playing their roles.
I *really* wish we had gotten Dior’s POV instead of everything filtered through Celene spying on her. Dior is such an interesting character—she’s both salvation and destruction, incredibly powerful but wanting none of it. She’s been through hell and still chooses kindness, still stays open to others. She’s basically the perfect “chosen one”… and honestly, I just wanted her to get a normal life.
At some point, I even found myself feeling a bit sorry for Fabién. He’s been built up as this major villain, but here we start to see cracks—hints that he’s not the most dangerous one after all, and that there’s more going on beneath the surface. I would’ve loved to explore that more. A prequel about him? About the Redeemer, his relationship with his brother, how he became what he is? I’d read that in a heartbeat.
And the worldbuilding—still incredible. Jay Kristoff could honestly keep writing in this universe forever and I’d keep showing up. I want stories about the Nineswords, more about the Duskdancers, I want to see Baptiste rebuild with Aaron… and maybe, finally, some quieter, hopeful stories now that the sun is starting to warm the world again.
What a story. Seriously—*what a book.*
Like with the rest of this series, I’m walking away feeling a bit torn. The world and characters? Easy five stars for me. I love them. But the storytelling itself can feel *heavy*—and at times, honestly, exhausting. I wanted to be completely hooked the whole way through, but the constant battles started to blur together after a while. Yes, the world is ending, Gabriel is (once again) on the brink of death, and Dior and Celene are juggling faith, feelings, and politics—but still, it got a bit repetitive.
That said, the ending *really* saved it for me. That’s when I finally got that “okay, now I need to know what happens next” feeling—and it went beyond what I expected. Around the 80% mark, I had fully accepted we were heading toward a bleak, closed ending for Gabriel and Celene… and then the book pulled the rug out from under me. The twist was so well done. Jean-François slowly realizing something was off? You could *feel* his confusion, his shock, and especially his helplessness in those final moments. It made everything click in a way that almost made me forgive some of the inconsistencies in the retelling. Honestly, I’ll take it.
Even though the book *felt* long, it definitely takes you through it emotionally. There’s so much loss that, at some point, you start losing hope right alongside the characters. Every loss hits—but the one that got me the most was Ashdrinker. She’s always just *there*, such a constant presence at Gabriel’s side that I didn’t even think of her as a separate character at times—more like this sharp, loyal, slightly charming extension of him. So when it becomes clear she’s damaged, that she might break… yeah, that one hurt. It felt like a quiet but devastating sacrifice.
I still loved De León’s wisdom (as always), and even Celene—though I have to admit, their constant back-and-forth started to frustrate me. The whole “we could kill each other” thing gets said *a lot*… and yet, nothing ever happens. They circle each other endlessly, and while Jean-François finds it entertaining, you can tell it’s going to be his downfall. And by the end, you really see just how good Celene and Gabriel are at playing their roles.
I *really* wish we had gotten Dior’s POV instead of everything filtered through Celene spying on her. Dior is such an interesting character—she’s both salvation and destruction, incredibly powerful but wanting none of it. She’s been through hell and still chooses kindness, still stays open to others. She’s basically the perfect “chosen one”… and honestly, I just wanted her to get a normal life.
At some point, I even found myself feeling a bit sorry for Fabién. He’s been built up as this major villain, but here we start to see cracks—hints that he’s not the most dangerous one after all, and that there’s more going on beneath the surface. I would’ve loved to explore that more. A prequel about him? About the Redeemer, his relationship with his brother, how he became what he is? I’d read that in a heartbeat.
And the worldbuilding—still incredible. Jay Kristoff could honestly keep writing in this universe forever and I’d keep showing up. I want stories about the Nineswords, more about the Duskdancers, I want to see Baptiste rebuild with Aaron… and maybe, finally, some quieter, hopeful stories now that the sun is starting to warm the world again.