I started this series by Brigid Kemmerer last year and blew through the first two books, even putting them on my year end best lists. The third and final book, A Vow So Bold and Deadly, finally came out in January, and in true book friend/fiend fashion, Sophia and I (and our frequent co-host and og book club founding member, Stephanie) read it together, which is always fun and exciting and full of back and forth memes and gifs.
If you want to hear me gush about how much I loved A Curse So Dark and Lonely (an incredible Beauty and the Beast retelling) and A Heart So Fierce and Broken (an equally if not more so incredible sequel), you can read more about them here. But about the third book… I have thoughts… and problems, maybe not 99 but the ending and enemy are some.
After falling in love with the two couples, Harper + Rhen and Lia Mara + Grey, I didn’t really get any of those same feels nor did the character arcs and relationships grow much or go anywhere. I don’t think Rhen really redeemed himself; the ending bro love seemed odd and out of place after like 1.5 books of uncertainty. Much of the plot seemed like recycled bits of the first two books, and after the final defeat of Lillith, the evil enchantress, I realized… WAIT. WHAT. WHY. I realized how lame her character was, like how she could just pop up out of nowhere at convenient times to the storyline but not at others. After everything, that main antagonist was a gaping plot hole that had me questioning the foundation of the whole series in the end. Major WOMP.
This isn’t new for me though; I typically am let down by series finales and how they wrap up all the loose ends (usually not well or semi-well). After such epic buildup, it is difficult to give everyone a satisfying finish. So all in all, I think it’s worth reading if you’re up for a nice fantasy series; the first two are truly lovely but if you run out of steam by the third, you won’t be missing much.