I was okay with the ending but I think the battle could have been sooner and longer, and there should have been more post-battle. it would have been more satisfying, after almost 500 pages of build up, to have more conclusion. the parts where this series shines are the relationships between characters, and I think some of the actual plot and court politics falls flat. there are some parts of this book that just feel unbelievable and take me out of it; for example, SPOILER theres no way that after the old king and queen have fallen ill and died and the new king has just gotten back from rescuing a foreign princess that the king would be allowed to just go off on another adventure and send all his troops there with no real concrete reason like there’s actually no way, marriage contract with the general or no. but overall, pacing and plot issues notwithstanding, this was a fun read and I’m glad I read it!

Underwhelming after all the suspense

** spoiler alert ** Comecei esse livro com baixas expectativas por ter visto algumas resenhas negativas e fui surpreendida com uma leitura que me agradou muito. Os primeiros capítulos foram mais difíceis por ter mais de dois anos que li o segundo livro (eu não lembrava nem o nome da protagonista kk perdão Lia), mas dei uma olhada nos acontecimentos dos livros anteriores na internet e me reconectei com a história rapidamente. No começo achava que ia acabar dando uma nota baixa, porque o livro parecia que seria muito devagar e eu estava MUITO irritada com o machismo que a Lia sofria por literalmente todos os homens em volta dela. Ela não podia respirar sem permissão e nada que dizia era levado em consideração. Depois percebi que a autora fez isso pra irritar mesmo, para que a gente se sentisse como Lia. O livro mostrou com perfeição que para nós mulheres sejamos ouvidas precisamos travar uma batalha diária para isso. Lia batalhou até que todos os homens a escutassem, por bem e por mal. Ela é uma personagem muito inspiradora e uma das mais feministas que já conheci na literatura. Essa passagem, por exemplo, me deixou arrepiada: “Eu o interrompi, empurrando-o para que ficasse em pé de novo, com a ponta da minha espada. “Não deveria fazer diferença se eu sou uma criada de taverna ou uma princesa. Quando eu o vir tratando os outros com respeito, independentemente da posição que ocupam, ou da sua anatomia, então seu pedido de desculpas significará alguma coisa.” Eu me virei para ir embora enquanto ele ainda falava, cansada porque essa era uma batalha que eu teria que lutar repetidas vezes.” Isso é muito real. Essa luta não termina. Enfim, a Lia é perfeita. Todas as mulheres desse livro são. Os homens me irritaram muito, pra variar. Quanto a história, ela realmente é lenta, mas de um jeito que me agradou. Gosto do ambiente que a autora criou e isso fez com que a leitura não fosse maçante pra mim. Gostei do jeito que as coisas se desenrolaram e das batalhas. Não tiveram muitos momentos de alta tensão no livro, mas os que tiveram foram muito bem descritos (principalmente a Lia revelando os perversos). Além disso, a escrita e a lírica de Mary E Pearson é incrível, ela tem um talento pra poesia admirável. Meu único problema com esse livro é o romance. Nos dois primeiros livros eu torcia por Kaden com força, mesmo sabendo que estava no time perdedor. Nunca gostei muito do Rafe. Nesse livro, queria mesmo era que a Lia ficasse sozinha, Kaden e Rafe só me irritaram. Não acho que a relação dela com Rafe foi bem estruturada (e nem vou falar sobre a relação do Kaden com a Paulino que surgiu do nada, ele deixou de gostar da Lia de uma página pra outra). Mas, acima de tudo, eu queria que Lia fosse feliz. Se a felicidade dela era com Rafe, então tudo bem. O final me agradou, não achei que foi tão corrido quanto muitos tem achado. Foi um desfecho muito bom pra série. Deu uma perspectiva legal do futuro do reino e foi um final fofo pra Lia (apesar de eu achar meio improvável a questão com Rafe). Quero muito ler Dance of Thieves pra saber o que Lia tem feito com seu reinado. Já to com saudade dessa personagem, que é uma das mais incríveis que eu já conheci. ❣️

4 of 5 stars ----- SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Though I loved the second book more, I can't deny the fact that this book was a great and solid conclusion in this wonderful trilogy. This was a full roller-coaster ride of war and emotions. And I can't believe this book stabbed my heart more than I expected. So much has happened within this massive book, so much loss and sacrifices. Now I understand why there are some who wanted Lia to end up with Kaden. For the duration of this trilogy, she surely spent more time with him than with Rafe. That I can obviously see. But I still choose and prefer Rafe over Kaden. Why? Because with those short moments and guarded emotions between Rafe and Lia, it was no doubt deeper and more meaningful, full of raw emotions, compared to her time with Kaden. Even with their arguments, there's still the undeniable tension exuding between them even if they're at the opposite side of the room, or hell, even if they're kingdoms away. I know that romance was not really the center of these books. This was more of the political intrigue and the war between kingdoms. But I came to be so attached with the romance sub-plot here. That romance played with my emotions. And I can feel the pain they felt after sacrificing their love and own happiness so they could do their duties as leaders of their respective kingdom. I thought the author would continue to break me. I was so convinced that there's no more hope for their love but I am glad the last page proved me wrong. A way for us. Impossible. But that hadn't stopped us before Even with that short indication, I am still glad their love wasn't exactly sacrificed until the end. The ending felt kinda bit rushed(?) to me. The intricate world building was a huge part of this story and I admired it so much, but the ending felt so sudden. I don't know. But it was still a solid ending. Overall, this is still so worth it. I enjoyed the whole journey of this trilogy. I highly recommend this for everyone!

i cried everywhere at the end

but def could’ve been shorter

Decent story but just a bit too predictable. The end was good however all of the loose ends were tied up too neatly and conveniently

My opinion on this book is torn to say the least but at the end I gave it five stars because the ending was the perfect finale to such a roller coaster of a trilogy. I really enjoyed the character growth and the world building. I definitely favored the first book most of all but this third was the perfect cherry on top to a clever trilogy. I definitely recommend if you are wanting some thing intricate and exciting.

i love lia and she is my wife rafe go away i wont hesitate

I enjoyed it the most of the trilogy, but I kept thinking it was at the last chapter when it wasn't.

jeb :( but also pauline and kaden 💞

Beautiful end to a beautiful series. ❤️

There’s something about the ending of intense books that just doesn’t do it for me. The war scene was a bit too much or not enough, I couldn’t picture everything and It was hard connecting all scenes.

It’s amazing how this series came through in not forgetting small details and links.

really enjoyed the series

don´t read this if you don´t want to go through a huge emotional rollercoaster I knaochdsuj at these quotes (portuguese) -> (view spoiler)["Nós tínhamos encontrado o amor. Agora, no entanto, eu sabia que encontrar o amor e se prender a ele não eram a mesma coisa." ------------------ "Se conseguimos encontrar uma maneira de colocar um fim em séculos de animosidade entre os reinos, com certeza, podemos encontrar um jeito para nós" (hide spoiler)]

** spoiler alert ** I think it was longer than it should have been I hated rafe for most of the book There are some things that i really didn't like about the book like kaden and Pauline's sudden relationships and some characters' situations such as general dreager,regheena (lia's mother) ,the royal scholar, the viceregent I felt like they were portrayed as friends one chaper then foes in the other and i didn't like that feeling of uncertainty At other times it felt comforting and warm like in the ending and right before the battle when they were all getting to know each other I usually find the battle scenes so boring but the battle scene here wasn't and the povs were divided between rafe ,lia and kaden which made it very intresting

3.5 So where’s this dragon they kept mentioning like lowkey I was waiting for dragons. . . Lia is such a strong-willed female character where her determination is evident and she doesn’t let anyone especially a cute boy influence her beliefs/ choices -even with others doubting her gift, her resolute remains unwavering -I like that she’s not a doormat, she doesn’t cower esp when Rafe continues to yell and fight against her (and he yelled at her a lot like yikes he has a temper) “I would attend the party just as he asked but I would attend as the person I was- not the one he wanted me to be” - YESSSS (view spoiler)[ Kaden and Pauline !!!! - I wonder when Kaden fell out of love for Lia tho and switched to Pauline but anyways Kadenn is such a softie for Pauline and her baby I mean THEIR BABY AHHH LOVE (hide spoiler)] Wow a Darth Vader moment during war I’M YOUR FATHERRR You know a dragon showing up in the middle of the war would have been cool . . . BITCHH Lia really ended a wholeass war just from a speech. Book 1, Lia fought for her voice to be heard, and then Book 3 shows her using her damn voice ending a war - YES THE POWER Overall, it was a good conclusion book where everything was explained and came together nicely but there was so much filler descriptions/ details that it made me bored at times and took me a while to finish. Half of the book was Rafe and Lia fighting, and Rafe not letting her go to save her kingdom and I'm was like broo just let her go so we can move on to the next part of the plot (view spoiler)[ My fav chapter is the last chapter hehe -Lia being the best QUEEN -Kaden and Pauline being domestic CUTE -Rafe brought her melons aahhhhh (hide spoiler)]

4/5 Rating.

Holy macro! This book... rollercoaster of emotions. I loved the story, the characters, the development of both. There wasn’t a moment where I felt bored. This is for sure one of my favorite series! Can’t wait to dive into the spinoff. Wow!

That ending 😭 It was so sweet. It brought everything in full circle. I'll never look at melons the same again. Also, KADEN AND PAULINE?! HELL YES

What a satisfying and beautiful conclusion. It's filled with political intrigue and war and backstabbing and pain. And the ending is so hopeful. I will say, the first 100 pages are slow. But when it hit the halfway mark, things get so interesting, it's hard to put the book down. My one complain is why does everyone has to end up with someone at the end? I understand that they deserve to be happy, but you can be happy by being single and awesome. Overall, love this book so much!

3.5*

It was very long and way slower than the first two. The whole book was extremely cliche and the writing style was not my favorite. That being said Mary Pearson had some great and unique ideas for plots. I would love to read some of her future books where the writing style is a bit more mature and the plots are still this great.

The best plotline in this book was Pauline spending almost all of her screen time not knowing what to name her baby but then she decided to name him after the High Lord of the Night Court. Everything else was just not as interesting. This series was suppose to be about a runaway princess but that was not what we got :/