*Spoilers Below*
Warrior Alyssa ana’Raisa would do anything to protect her home, the Fells, and her legacy, the Gray Wolf line. But as a prisoner of Empress Celestine, Lyss is forced to turn her fearsome talents as an army commander against her beloved homeland. Refusal would swiftly lead to her death, and her death would end the Gray Wolf line. In Lyss’s absence, Fellsmarch Castle swarms with intrigue, deception, and a primordial threat. Destin Karn, a southern spymaster with a hidden agenda of his own, might be the queendom’s only hope of defeating the forces aligned against the Seven Realms . . . as well as the enemies within the castle.
I think the character I enjoyed the most in terms of their overall arc was definitely Destin Karn. He really shone for me in this last book. we get to see him be the callous assassin who will do anything to further his own agenda in court but this time his agenda aligns with the rest of the seven realms in a positive way. At the start of this series I think I thought his character wasn’t all that relevant, I don’t think I even mentioned him in my first review for Flamecaster. But to see his evolution from when he was a kid in Tarvos and then being the Assassin in Arden Court to eventually getting his happiness with Evan was wonderful to read.
Lyss and her evolution was less dramatic I find. She is pretty consistent for me throughout the series she just really comes to terms with being the new queen were as before she second guessing herself and comparing herself to Hanalea and even Juliann. Her storyline in this last book was kind of boring. We didn’t really get many chapters from her point of view and when we did it was when she was still being held captive by Celestine and not a lot was happening. I’m so glad that she was able to finally reunite with her brother, that was a great scene!
In the end Lila’s character is integral to the storyline but she didn’t have that great twist that I was waiting for. Seeing her on the council in Fellsmarch was gratifying but she didn’t really have that much of an impact that I was expecting. She works the whole conspiracy out quickly though and takes control and links with Destin again to defeat Jastin and I love the companionship between them!
In terms of the plot and the twists I have to say I was surprised by how everything played out with Celestine and the truth behind all of the parentage of all of the magemarked. I wish the eventual stand off between the Empress and her siblings was drawn out a little more and didn’t necessarily involve the dragons saving the day but again I was satisfied with how it played and I don’t really have any complaints. The big twist about who the spy was in the Fells definitely surprised me, I at no point in time thought it was going to be Mellony so that was entertaining.
Overall I’m very happy with how many point of views we get from each of the main characters. They are all so easy to differentiate and finally getting to see them all interact with each other was so satisfying and exciting. They’ve been circling for so long and scheming and to finally have everything come to a head and get answers was worth the journey for sure!
⭐️5/5 stars Highly recommend this series, if you haven’t yet read it!
Amy Leigh Reads 