I cannot believe the Drowning Empire trilogy is over, and I'm so excited that I got to end it with the audiobook. I'd heard the full cast was phenomenal, and y'all they delivered! The narrators alone made this book so dynamic.

Now as a mini recap to my feelings for this trilogy—I adored The Bone Shard Daughter, but I was slightly disappointed coming out of The Bone Shard Emperor. It felt very second book syndrome to me with a slower plot and pacing, so all of my hopes were resting at the feet of this finale, and it MOSTLY delivered. There's some plot decisions that felt unlike the characters I have come to know, but arguably that's because of the two year time jump going into The Bone Shard War. I kept reminding myself that a lot of the characters changed due to the passage of time, but it's a hard reminder to remember when you feel disconnected to your favorite characters. This decision is basically why my rating is a four star because it ultimately affected the entirety of the story.

The shining light of this finale was that Ranami and Phalue got more screen time than in The Bone Shard Emperor! I missed my two wives sooo much, and while they are separated for a majority of this story, I could not get enough of their pining to get back to one another. Ayesh and Shark also just made me smile relentlessly. I wish we could've seen the start to their blossoming bond, but it was fantastic to see Ayesh begin to come into her own, particularly through her deep loyalty for her mothers. Ranami and Ayesh had such a tumultuous relationship in the previous book, so getting to see them as mother and daughter felt right. They had to survive without Phalue, and it certainly put them through the ringer. Honestly, Ranami specifically was my favorite POV. I find myself drawn to characters without powers/ no fighting abilities because they have to use their empathy, intelligence or whatever other trait to survive.

While Lin is the core lead (alongside Jovis), this book did not feel like hers. She felt more like a background/side character, which is weird to say considering the fact that she has tons of chapters, definitely more than Phalue or Ranami. Her chapters pretty much blended together into fighting Dion/the Shardless Few or Ragan/Nisong. She was 75% on water too. All of her substantial character growth happened in The Bone Shard Emperor, in my opinion, so she was basically just protecting the empire as much as she could. Lin does make a couple decisions that the version of her two years ago would've never made, but again, I think the sudden change is due to the two years time jump. Thrana was just a soothing balm to my soul because she's always protecting Lin. The moments where Thrana urges Phalue to be more empathetic to Lin were among some of my favorite scenes because, of course, a creature would get through to a person rather than an actual human being bahaha.

Now Jovis... probably my most controversial opinion. While I understand the arc of his story, specifically the one told through this finale, it felt unnecessary at the same time. Was I stressed to the max for him? Yes. Did his chapters leave me cringing in sympathy? Yes.

But I think if him being controlled by bone shard magic against his will was the trajectory of his story... it needed to have happened to him back in The Bone Shard Emperor.

It felt very sudden for all of this change to his character to occur only within the finale book. He had tons of growth throughout the first two books, and to have his character essentially decimated beyond his control is something I'm still trying to come to terms with. Everything about his journey was further upsetting when the final scene happens with him.

After everything(!), he loses his memories of basically the entire trilogy?? I know a couple memories slink through his mind by the time the epilogue rolls around, but everything about his character felt purposeless. And maybe that was the point. It's just not a point that I think was necessary. Now I probably speak for everyone when I say that Mephi losing Jovis was truly one of the hardest things to read. I've always championed the relationship between these two, and after losing my own soul kitty in December, this moment hit even harder. Jovis needed that redemption for himself, but all I could hear were Mephi's screams following him right at his heels.

The most surprising part of this book rested with Nisong. I was curious what would happen to her arc now that all her friends are dead. Of course, she had to be tied to Ragan. Literally despise him with my entire heart and soul. I went from enjoying her chapters the most in The Bone Shard Daughter to wanting to throttle her in The Bone Shard Emperor and The Bone Shard War. Nisong is completely lost at the start of this finale, and she stays that way for a long time, basically until the big battle at the end.

Her connection to Loezhi (idk if I'm spelling that right) made her POV worth every second because her other moments being intimate with Ragan certainly left me gagging. She's the most imperfect of all the leads, in my opinion, so her arc was the most beautiful. She lost everything, even her sense of self, but it was through the bond between her and Loezhi that Nisong rediscovered her old self from the early pages of The Bone Shard Daughter. The return of Sand was unexpected but perfect.

Moving onto the reveals, I was stunned to learn the truth about the sinking islands. Andrea Stewart certainly pulled the hood over my head with that one. It seems so obvious in retrospect but also not at the same time?? I still have eons worth of questions about the particular mechanics of this magic system. I definitely think more detail could've been given when we go down inside that cavern in the climax scene because I just don't feel I have quite the understanding that I'd like. I still can't picture it fully, and sometimes while less is more, other times I want as much information as possible! Maybe I'll have to reread it again when I get my finished copy. Overall, I wish the Alanga, ossalen, and island lore were detailed more in the previous books because it felt akin to whiplash to learn all of these reveals in only one book.

Overall, I am content with where this trilogy ended. I know I nitpicked quite a bit, but I do so with love for these characters and this world. I'm so excited to see where Andrea goes next with her writing because if this was the start then... Wow, I'm impressed.

Thank you Orbit Books and NetGalley for the ARC audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.