I haven’t read a fantasy series that was not heavy on romance in a very long time. I am very glad I chose to go down that road again with this series. I would say that it may have renewed my love and enjoyment of fantasy without spice.
The third and final book in this series starts off very bleak. If you read the first two books in this series, you will remember how badly things went for Alina and her allies at the end of Siege and Storm. Book three picks back up immediately where it left off. Alina is weak both physically and emotionally, having nearly died in her attempt to kill the Darkling and having lost friends and fellow Grisha during that confrontation. She feels extremely guilty, she believes she could have killed the Darkling if Mal had not pulled her away, and that the deaths that were a result of his invasion would have meant something. And it really doesn’t help that the place she was brought to recover is not exactly a place that is conducive to healing. Eventually, Alina and those loyal to her break free of that oppressive refuge and they continue their mission. Unsurprisingly, Prince Nikolai survived the Darklings attack too, and he finds the rogue Grisha after they leave their hideaway and teams up with them once again.
The first few chapters of this book were very frustrating, and I was worried that the entire book was going to be so. I was very glad when the tone changed from gloomy prison vibes to one of strategy, adventure, and discovery. I had some feelings regarding Mal, that he was special, not just an average human, or otkazat’sya as they say, and I will say that I was correct in suspecting something and if you’ve read my reviews before you know how excited I get when my theories turn out to be correct. On another note, some of the things I got quite sad about were a few of the character deaths, and there were a lot of them so be prepared. But finally being able to discover the truth about all the theories and stories we have been reading about for three books was amazing. I am always relieved when all the loose ends are cleanly tied up. I can’t think of anything that I wanted to know that didn’t get answered, and there are five more novels related to the series, plus a book of children’s stories and a book about the saints, which I will be reading next. So, if I do think of something, perhaps I will find the answers there. My journey into the GrishaVerse has not ended, it seems it has only just begun.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 