I'm really bummed about this book. I wanted to love it. I thought for sure I would, since the other two were so interesting. Unfortunately, while there was quite a bit I liked about this book, there were a couple big things that brought my enjoyment of this down.

Things I liked:

1. The flashbacks. In book two, Kelsea sees Lily's past. In this book, she sees the past of a girl named Katie. I felt like this was the most consistent part of the book. There are so many characters we follow and in the end, many of those perspectives don't seem to matter much. But seeing the beginnings of New London through Katie's experiences and understanding the direct impact those events had on what was going on in the Tearling almost 300 years later was really interesting.

2. The audiobook. I listened to the audiobook of this story and thought it was done really well. The voice actor had a very pleasing voice, and she was able to give distinct voices to each of the characters, even the male characters. I thought she did a wonderful job. The one drawback to the audiobook is that there were a few times I lost track of whose story we were following. There are so many POVs, and there were times when I would miss what was going on.

Things I didn't like:

1. The lack of high stakes. Now, up until the last chapter of this book, I would've said the opposite. I would've said that this book was pretty ballsy because it kept raising the stakes. Several prominent characters (characters who had their own POV) died, and the fact that it is told in 3rd person had me convinced for awhile that even Kelsea wasn't safe. I thought that was great, because in a story about magical gems and visions and necromancy, knowing that no character is safe grounds the story with at least a shred of realism. Unfortunately, the end (see next item on list) negates almost all of that.

2. The end felt like a cop out. I'd heard before I picked up this book that people weren't happy with the ending. I honestly went into the book thinking Kelsea was going to die, sacrificing herself to get rid of the Red Queen. I figured that's what people were so upset with, but I thought it made perfect sense, so I kind of disregarded the negative reviews I saw. But I totally get it. That ending felt cheap. Kelsea goes back into the past and changes the future. Now, I won't say that it makes the entire series pointless, but I will say that we spent a lot of time with side characters (i.e. Javel) who, while helpful to Kelsea's cause, didn't necessarily need entire sections devoted to them if we were just going to never mention them again. After the change we never even see them again. So many things were left unfinished. I wanted to see the rest of the story I started. I wanted to see Kelsea and her people figure out a way to restore the Tearling without the short cut of a temporal reset. It felt very rushed. And the actual ending was so abrupt. I just felt like it could've been so much more.

3. The Red Queen's 'arc'. I didn't feel like we needed a more human version of the Red Queen. But then again, she never really existed so I guess it doesn't matter 🙄.

4. Kelsea being stuck in a cell the majority of the book. Her sections were boring.

I just feel let down by this ending. It had so much potential, and I don't feel like that was satisfied with this conclusion.