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Review

OH HELL YEAH!! What an ending! I absolutely loved it!

I have really enjoyed this trilogy, and must confess I was worried about how it would all end, but Chelsea Fine has outdone herself and given me everything I wanted in the final book, and then some! I read it in a day. Again, it’s tricky to write a review without giving away spoilers, and I’m going to be vague so that I don’t give anything away.

The series is a very original take on the paranormal theme, with the three main characters – Scarlet, Tristan and Gabriel, each under a curse. Their lives have been tied together for over 500 years, and the action in this book focusses on them trying to find a way to finally break the curse. There is a gorgeously strong romantic storyline that drives the story, and the plot is fast moving and very cleverly put together. It’s a very intricate and involved world, and this final instalment sees it all come together and tie up beautifully.

The book picks up immediately after the ending of the last book, Awry, and I was instantly drawn back into the world. We get a quick chance to catch up with everybody, remember where they are all at, and then the book moves to flashback and we finally get the ENTIRE story of the history of these characters. Yep, all of it. And I loved every minute of it! With their complicated history, around half of the book is told in flashback, but having the entire background gives you so much more insight, and sometimes a different perspective on the characters and events unfolding in present day. My opinion of Gabriel, in particular, shifted hugely with reading all that went on between him, Tristan and Scarlet. He is a very misunderstood character, and his suffering was awful! I really love the way that the author was able to show the different side to him, and the animosity I felt towards him just disappear.

And when the action switches back to the present, you feel everything so much deeper than before, now that you finally know all that the characters have been through – OMG, soooo much trauma and heartbreak! I was in tears a couple of times. But there are also some beautifully swoony moments.

“As far as where you belong…” He put a hand over his heart. “Right here. Always. In life and death and everything in between.” He paused. “Never question it.”

Revisiting the past also ties up a lot of the questions that were left by the previous two books as you figure out the hows and whys of the mystery and secrets that have been hinted at along the way. And things slowly click into place as the story fits together just beautifully!

The love triangle element is gone, but there is still the forbidden love aspect which is utterly heartbreaking (but swoony at the same time), although with a shift in the curse there is a new twist which I really loved.

Team Awesome are back in action, and I’ve gotta say I LOVE these characters. Scarlet is much more badass in this book, and I loved seeing that side of her come out. A whole new side of Gabriel is revealed, Heather is freaking hilarious and Tristan is sigh-inducingly perfect as the tortured (yet totally badass) romantic hero.

“I couldn’t stop loving you even if I tried. And I’ve tried … God, how I’ve tried. But I am completely lost to you. I am lost and empty and broken-”
“My heart is broken, too-”
“My heart is not broken… My heart is dead.”

*sniff*. God, I love that man!

And then there is Nate. God, he is so AWESOME! (with shouty caps and all). What a sensational character, such a dry sense of humour, he says it like it is and steals every scene he is in. Cannot gush enough about him.

“I totally kicked Ashman ass over there! I was all like hi-yah and you wanna piece of me? I was a super slayer! Buffy’s got nothing on

me.”
…
“It was life and death out there, guys. Life and death. They just kept coming at me and I just kept putting them down … I mean, sure, I screamed like a girl a few times and accidentally stabbed myself at the beginning, but still”

With laughter, tears, action, and a gorgeously swoon-inducing, sometimes heartbreaking romance (with hotness… but YA hotness), this book – the whole series – has it all. Including a kickass ending that was a little bit Goonies and a little bit Indiana Jones in its utter awesomeness. There is a HEA, but it’s not a HEA for everybody. I sort of predicted it though and thought it was fitting, and even though I swore loudly and shed a few tears, it works for the story.

5 Team Awesome stars!

The Archers of Avalon