Spy Glass

I really do feel that with each book in this series, it got better. ...or maybe it just got more Devlen. Whatever. Same diff, right? Plot: 3.9/5 Like the first two books in this series, I really feel that this lacked a cohesive plot that bound the book together from the first page to the last. It was an good book, don't get me wrong, but... it could've been better. This books plot WAS more cohesive than the first two, which is why this book is getting five stars instead of four. ...or wait, that might just be because of all the Devlen in this book. Characters: 5/5 Well, there was Devlen. Um, there was Valek. There was Janco. There was Opal (she was our main character, thank god she was there). Uh, let's see... there was Devlen. Wait a minute, did I already say that? I might have. Okay, lets do this for reals, why don't we? Opal: I appreciate that her character has changed throughout the series. In the beginning, she was (as other characters described her) too nice, to trusting, an accommodating doormat. In book 2, her character changed drastically, going from an accommodating doormat to a bitter and jaded and somewhat self-serving character (considering what happened in book 2, this was completely understandable). And in this book, her character faded back TOWARDS the other end of the spectrum. She lost her bitterness and regained some of her trusting nature, but not all of it, which was good. Devlen: Devlen has also changed drastically from the beginning of this series to it's conclusion, but if I talk about it, I'll just end up fangirling with excessive exclamation marks, which you don't want. And if you do, then you can go check the updates I made while reading this book. Nic and Eve: Always love these guys. Study characters featured in this book: Valek: Always love to see him. Janco: Who WAS hilarious! Ari: whom Opal should've listened to. There were also some characters in this book whom I'm calling non-characters, because they either weren't there very much, were only mentioned, or didn't do anything. Kade: Yes, Kade is a non-character. He did have a conversation with Opal towards the end that resolved their relationship, and that was good, I suppose. Lief and Mara: There were more active in the first half, but then in the second half they disappeared and I kinda forgot about them. We also got some new villains in this: Walsh: Walsh was the mini-villain here. I sort of wish we;d been given MORE insight into his motives though. Galen: He was a MODEL villain. MODEL. the Romance: 5/5 I'm sorry... I thought I'd already said Devlen several times in this review. But let's just make it official why don't we? Devlen, Devlen, Devlen, I love you, love you so much, you are the best! Okay, that was my sorry attempt at beginning to write a ballad to him, let's stop that now, shall we? Yeah, let's just fangirl with excessive exclamation marks. that sounds good to me. DEVLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CAME FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank fate Opal finally realized what she wanted and stopped this whole Kade nonsense. 13.9/15 But I'm giving this book 2 extra points for Devlen, so the final grade is (drumroll, please)...... 15.9/15 Yes.

I am torn between giving Spy Glass one star for (view spoiler)[making Opal/Devlen endgame. I think I would have loooved them if the events of the first book didn't occur, but they did, and this makes this pairing so problematic. (hide spoiler)] and four stars for it actually being the best book in the series and being, you know, good. So, I really don't know how to rate this. I shall think about it!

** spoiler alert ** I liked this book. I didn’t like that her relationship with Devlen started so late, I thought the book should have been longer so that the Opal, Devlen, and Kade romance could have been better orchestrated. I like that Opal is with Devlen now, but as she was under Galen’s magic when she slept with him, I didn’t think she truly loved him? I guess I like Kade better lol. But I like that they adopted the siblings.

** spoiler alert ** I enjoyed this book, just like I enjoyed the entire series, but I wasn't in love with it. I didn't feel that need to read from cover to cover as qucikly as possible to find out the edning. I think that might have been because I stopped being able to understand Opal as a character. The first two books in the Glass series had me feeling like I could really relate to Opal. I understood how she felt, how she felt her magic wasn't enough and she was continually failing to do the right thing and make the right decisions. I felt like in this book Opal becmae a completely different person. At times you saw the spark of old Opal, but mostly she was gone. I didn't understand the decisions she was making or the directions she was going. I admit the romance also got to me. You saw Opal isolating herself, but then everything that happened with Devlen, I didn't get that. It seemed so out of nowhere that all it achieved was alienating me from Opal and the story. Maybe I'm being too picky, after all I did like Kade, maybe it's me not being able to get past that. But I do feel like Opal and Devlen should never have worked because, after all, cna we please remember he tortured her... repeatedly. I'm sorry, but the excise of 'he had to his addiction to blood magic controlled him' is pathetic. It's an abuse victim saying it's not his fault they provoked him by not doing as they were told. It all felt too Stockholm syndrome for my liking, and they really put me off. I enjoyed it though, I cannot deny the story was gripping, but I feel like it failed to meet expectations. Maybe that's where I went wrong, I expected too much of this final book and that inevitably led it to fall flat.

I liked the last book in the series more than I expected after I was so disappointed by Sea Glass. Finally Opal develops some character and I begin to actually like her. Her decisions make sense and are becoming understandable. It wasn't just the pointless running about as in the second book. Some spoilery comment on Opals love life in this book: (view spoiler)[Somehow it was a bit predictable that the thing with Kade didn't work out. I had already gotten that feeling in the last book. Still I was a bit annoyed in the beginning by the developing love triangle with Devlen. It is getting old quickly and used way too much lately. So I was pleasently surprised that I actually liked how it all played out with Devlen and Opal. It didn't seem forced as the first impression implied. (hide spoiler)] Quite a few characters from former books make appearances and (a huge plus in my opinion) the whole mystery around the sea glass and the Bloodrose clan is solved (I was quite annoyed that this wasn't done or at least a bit more hinted in the last book. So all in all the book was better than Sea Glass, which now feels even more like a gap-filling story without purpose for its own. It was a nice read, but still nothing too new or thrilling. Average.

#medievalathon Devo essere sincera, ho pensato di lasciarlo perdere un sacco di volte. Ma non potevo farlo tecnicamente perchè lo stavo leggendo per una readathon e non ho nient'altro che andava bene per la challenge 😔 detto questo, sono rimasta molto delusa da questo libro. Non avevo letto nemmeno 100 pagine e avevo già capito dove si voleva andare a parare (view spoiler)[cioè due libri a dirci che Devlen è un pezzo di merda e poi tutto quello che deve fare è fare il santone indiano per essere perdonato di tutto quello che ha fatto? WHAT?! SIAMO SERI?!?! (hide spoiler)]. Mi sono annoiata un sacco leggendo questo libro. OVVIAMENTE non pensavo che sarebbe stato meglio o all'altezza di A Gathering of Shadows quando l'ho iniziato, ma nemmeno che fosse così prevedibile '-'. Opal la odio, non c'è niente da fare per me in tre libri non è maturata nemmeno un pò. Preferisco decisamente Yelena come protagonista. E poi dai, nessuno dei love interest di questa serie poteva reggere il confronto con Valek 😏. Poi scusate la missione principale era una, cosa vuol dire continuare a deviare dal percorso? Okay Leif e Mara, ma tutto il resto? Potevamo fare a meno di almeno 200 pagine e il finale sarebbe stato lo stesso. Ma avremo sopportato meno Opal, che è già qualcosa XD. (view spoiler)[comunque da qualunque parte la si metta era parecchio scontato chi aveva rubato il sangue di Opal. Quando Finn ha detto che il suo cliente gli aveva promesso più soldi di quanti avrebbe mai potuto offrirgliene Opal è stato lampante. Ma no, ci siamo dovuti sorbire 200 pagine di nulla assoluto 🙃. Ma oltre a questo, se Opal sapeva che gli piaceva Devlen (perchè LO SAPEVA ERA LAMPANTE!) perchè ha continuato a rigirare la frittata con Kade? NON HA SENSO! Solo per fare la parte della povera Opal che vuole tenere il piede in due scarpe? 😩 Se volete fare un triangolo amoroso almeno fatelo credibile, quel poveraccio non aveva speranze dalla prima pagina (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed the conclusion to this trilogy. I fell in love with Opal throughout and was on the edge of my seat for a lot of this volume. I only wish I hadn't finished it as now I feel lost without her world.