Name: The Talon & the Blade
ISBN: 9780997658248

Jasmine Silvera

The third book in the Grace Bloods series, a romantic urban fantasy series for adults.

The Talon & the Blade

Sheena

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5 Stars)
Title: The Talon & The Blade
Author(s): Jasmine Silvera
Character(s): 
― Ana Gozen: Brown Eyed
― Gregor Schwarz: Blue Eyed
Setting: ―
Tag(s): Romance, Fantasy
Content Rating: R
POV: Third Person
Smexy Level: Hot
Favorite Quote(s): N/A
Overall Opinion:
A decent fantasy novel filled with strong leads and an action packed adventure. The chemistry between the leads were obvious but unfortunately that wasn't enough for me to be really draw into the story. More often than none I found myself skimming through the pages which was surprising since I normally gravitate towards stories like this. I'm assuming due to the fact that this is the third book of the story, I was missing out some key components that were mentioned in previous books that prevented me from really immersing myself into the read. I will definitely consider picking this off where I left it in the future when catching up with the book series.

Jo H

Who knew that I could actually be invested in the redemption of an asshole? Gregor was a nasty piece of work in books 1 and 2 because there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to his bad attitude towards Isela. He was and still is loyal to his master Azrael who is Isela's 'smooch' so at least he had at least one redeeming feature, but his constant put downs of Isela were a tad annoying to me in the first two books much like similar situations are IRL. 

Like the previous two books, The Talon & the Blade was beautifully written, full of action, drama, atmosphere and monsters. There was also a slow to build romance including a side dish of lust that I was really surprised Gregor was capable of! But given Ana's nature (an Alpha Female for and Alpha Male) it was more than plausible and was fun to see him fall in love with his match in his lady warrior. And I did have a giggle early on when Isela had him shopping for her in a petty but not in the least bit harmful way of paying him back for his bad attitude towards her and her family. It is also Gregor's current and backstory, and gives a history to his behaviour towards her, even if it's not quite good enough to explain why he had to be a fool. 

Needless to say, this third and final volume of the Grace Bloods trilogy is yet another shining example of what UF can do, if the author wishes and has the foresight enough to create something a bit 'different' and more inclusive. And thank fuck as this book is yet more proof of how much more lush the landscape can be when the entire 'universe' is not whitewashed but instead is culturally rich with commentary (and some mythology) about indigenous folks, Japanese folks and a diverse band of 'outlaws' of the US civil war period, including runaways that were people who were previously enslaved. So unlike the previous two in the trilogy, whilst this one took place in the US, it had none of the usual UF backdrop of 'spot the POC characters' worth a dime. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the 'standard' vampires, fae and especially shifters as much as the next fantasy reader, but sometimes those stories are touted as the be all and end all, especially within the much maligned UF (as the 'lesser' within the realm of fantasy... insert eyeroll here) and leave no room for different perspectives, and this author with her fantastic books is proof that there is much more out there.

I can't wait to see what Jasmine Silvera offers up in her next trilogy, which appears to be a prequel to this one.

The Talon & the Blade

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