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Review

A SENSATIONAL ENDING TO AN AMAZING SERIES!

The final book in The Captive series dives straight into the action, and absolutely blew me away! After the hideous cliffy in Refugee, we get to see Braith and Aria put to their most devastating test yet, and the emotion was everything I expected it to be.

Spoiler

Captive Aria is subjected to brutal abuse and torture by both Caleb and the King, and Braith is absolutely broken. Furious that Aria has been taken, and terrified for her, he is almost lost to his rage. And, once again, the two of them show their incredible strength, staying dedicated to the rebellion despite their horrific circumstances.

And this leads into the most action-packed excitement of the entire series. The whole cast of characters is involved as the big climax that has been building for three books finally takes place, and it is EPIC! It’s violent and brutal, and pretty much everybody gets a moment to shine, and then there’s the cliffhanger resolution which almost had me in tears. I was terrified, I was cheering, I was devastated, and constantly on the edge of my seat. It felt like I barely took a breath during the entire first half of the book! It was so intense and action-packed, I was flipping pages frantically, I couldn’t read fast enough!

Braith and Aria are both phenomenal during this whole thing. Kickass, emotional, and still totally devoted to each other, their romance continues to shine despite everything that is going on, and it just made the whole thing that much more epic.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered.
“Never,” he groaned against her ear. “No matter what happens I will always be with you Arianna. Always.”

While the first half the book left me breathless, the second half is the come down. Still moving at a great pace, we see everybody dealing with the fallout of all of that intensity, and we get beautiful resolution to all of the other storylines that have been developed across the series – and I do mean ALL of them! Secrets are revealed, conflicts are resolved, vengeance is carried out, and secondary characters all get their closure.

I must admit that while reading it, it felt like the shift in intensity was really drastic, but looking back, the beginning of this book flowed on so brilliantly from everything that had come before it, that it couldn’t have happened any other way. It really was the perfect way to finish the series. The way that the story unfolded made complete sense, and after the massive events of the first half of the book, the aftermath could have been so easily brushed over, but Stevens has given it to us in glorious detail with all of the build up and resolution beautifully and emotionally portrayed.

And at the heart of it all is Braith and Aria and their heart-clenching love story. Through everything, Braith and Aria’s love for each other continues to grow and their relationship solidifies even further as they completely open up to each other and embrace their new reality. And again, I was floored at the absolute faith and devotion they have to each other.

“I will love you until the end of days Aria; never doubt that for a moment. “
“I couldn’t possibly.”

And I was left a swooning mess as they stood strong and claimed their future.

“This.” He seized hold of her hand and pressed it over his still heart. “There are times I can almost feel this actually beating for you. You have owned it since the moment I saw you. It may have taken me a while to come to that realization, but it’s true, and there is nothing, nothing that is going to change that. Not blood and not sex. You were made for me Aria.”

In a way, the second half of the book felt like a really long epilogue as everybody ‘moves on’, but there are still some plot developments to unfold and there are definitely a few surprises in store – one that actually had me jumping out of my chair and screaming “WHAAAAAT?” (seriously, I did that!), but again, the resolution is still there, and everything is finished off beautifully.

Overall, this was a perfect finish to a series that has become a definite favourite. The paranormal world with a dystopian twist is original, the mix of action, romance and humour is great, all written with beautiful emotion. And the characters are absolutely sensational! I haven’t been able to put these books down since I started. If you’re a PNR fan, this series really can’t be missed.

5 fantastic stars.