Rituals by Kelley Armstrong

IN THE STUNNING FINALE OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG'S CAPTIVATING CAINSVILLE SERIES, OLIVIA TAYLOR-JONES NOT ONLY HAS TO CONFRONT THE TRUTH ABOUT HER BIRTH PARENTS' CRIMES, BUT THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO SHE REALLY LOVES. AND THERE'S ONE MORE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE SHE FACES...

When Olivia found out she was not actually the child of a privileged Chicago family, as she was raised to believe, but the daughter of a notorious pair of convicted series killers, her life exploded. Running from the fall-out, she found a refuge in the secluded but oddly welcoming town of Cainsville, Illinois. But she couldn't resist trying to dig out the truth about her birth parents' crimes. She began working with Gabriel Walsh, a fiendishly successful criminal lawyer who also had links to the town; their investigation soon revealed Celtic mysteries at work in Cainsville, and also entangled Olivia in a tense love triangle with the calculating Gabriel and a charming biker, Ricky, the son of one of Gabriel's more questionable clients. Soon, troubling visions revealed to Olivia that the three of them were drawn to each other for deeper reasons than any of them would credit--caught in an ancient drama that pitted the elders of Cainsville against the mysterious Hunstmen with Olivia as the prize.

In this fifth and final novel, not only does Gabriel's drug addict mother--who he thought had died when he was a child--make a surprise reappearance, but Olivia's story takes a final knock-out twist. It turns out that a third supernatural force has been at work all along, a dark and malevolent entity that has had its eye on Olivia since she was a baby and wants to win at any cost.

This description comes from the publisher. *Rituals* is the fifth book of the Cainsville series, the first of which is *Omens*.

What an incredibly dissapointing conclusion on every single angle for me. I really didn't enjoy the resolution to anything and this one felt soooo drawn out. Just whyyy.

What a ride... Absolutely great series.

Series review:

Cainsville was one of the last series/books I read in 2018. I picked up Omens on a whim, assuming I'd like it and wanting something to get me out of a reading funk I was in. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I ended up liking the book so much I needed the next book immediately. Next thing I knew I was three books deep and had no desire to read anything else but this series. I had to know the ending, I had to get answers.

This series is a thriller with a fantasy slant and some romance. The mysteries kept me on my toes, making my desire more. The magic is slowly explained more and more at a good pace to keep the reader from being overloaded. Olivia's powers of seeing and understanding omens or things we think of superstitious is really unique and fascinating, although it slowly comes up less and less which I thought was a shame.

The whole series we are trying to figure out the secrets of Cainsville, if Olivia's parents are innocent, and eventually what it is everyone is expecting of Olivia. At times some of it seems to drag, no thanks to the elders holding back information (UGH), but my annoyance usually was pushed to the side as I fell back into the excitement. Another bad guy? Another killer? Deadly secrets uncovered?! There is just so much here!

What I didn't like, sadly, ended up being the romance and the ending. I don't think there was any way for me to like what was going to happen with the romance. It is easy to see what is going to happen early on, so the last 2 books were painful to me. He didn't deserve that to happen!! Why can't they all be together and be happy!?! I won't say more about it because I don't want to give more away.

The ending... I'm not sure I can say anything without giving things away! Let's just say I was hoping things would go differently. That her choices would prove that everyone was looking at things just black and white. We live in a world of shades of gray, why couldn't everyone be wrong about what needed to happen?! I wanted loopholes, instead it felt more anti-climatic.

This is a series I will probably read again. It will hold a spot in my heart. I recommend this one to people who like thrillers with fantasy and are willing to wait through 5 books to get all the answers! You might also think it is worth the wait :)