I feel a little conflicted about this one.

I really loved The Final Strife and I was excited to see where the story would go. While I wasn’t totally disappointed, I think the plot just took a turn that changed the entire dynamic of the series and made a lot of what happened in Book 1 a bit redundant. While I enjoyed the mystery element, Anoor’s character was painfully annoying and she almost reverted back to herself from the beginning of Book 1. Sylah & Jond’s arch was the most interesting as it fleshed out more of the world, but

I low-key wanted them to get back together, or at least reconnect

, and the ending made 0 sense to me.

Why would Jond & Sylah think Sylah could use the orb after barely a year’s training… why didn’t other members of the council try if it were that easy?

I was also rooting for them to turn back to each other. Hassa’s storyline was good, I wonder where she’ll go next.

The ending of the book happened quite quickly, with there being little surprises. I’ll finish the series, but I think there was something charming about Book 1 that’s lost for me.