I never felt very invested in the relationship between Akiva and Karou in previous books, but I think I finally started to like the idea of them together in this last book. This installment had a further exploration of the lore which added to the world-building. We were introduced to new characters that were important and relevant to the ongoing war between chimera and seraphs. I appreciated that the consequences matched the stakes in the war. No one really left the war completely unscathed, yet the ending was still hopeful. This was probably the best book in the series, which usually isn't how I feel about trilogies. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Laini Taylor. She has great prose and world-building which was really what kept me interested in this series. A solid conclusion.

The pacing for the romance was too fast, in my opinion. Louise and Nicholas only meet a few times before they are both "in love". I wish the novel was longer to give them more time to get to know each other before making this kind of declaration. The main characters also aren't particularly memorable. Louise has been taking care of her younger siblings, Catherine and John, since their parents died. Despite being interesting on paper, Louise is just didn't stand out for me. Kerrin and Catherine seemed a lot more interesting. There are signs throughout the book of romantic feelings blooming between the two and their relationship feels more compelling to me because we see them interact more than the main couple. However, I am not sure if I am willing to give another book in this series a shot since this one has been disappointing. 

 This book was delayed multiple times, so I was happy when I was able to purchase the e-book this month after such a long wait. Unfortunately, this book seemed rushed and I could tell by reading it. The first book had fast pacing, but at least the main characters had time to get to know each other and develop a romantic relationship. Dhuro is a lot more unlikeable than Veron and it feels like he wasn't given time to grow as a character because the story was so short. I would have liked him a lot more if he had. Arabella and him are disagreeable with each other at the beginning of the book and the transition to having a romantic relationship felt like it came out of nowhere. Dhuro and her had argued viciously and they transitioned to a romantic and sexual relationship before his previous behavior towards her was properly addressed. They also didn't spend enough time together for me to be convinced of the extent of their feelings for each other. I think this would have worked out better if it had just been left at "they like each other" rather than trying to sell us on "they are head over heels in love". I believe the potential for the being in love should have been left out in the open. The story was disappointing, unfortunately. I really wanted to like Dhuro more. I usually like the grumpy jerk with a heart of gold, but it seems this was not the one for me.

Since they get married at the end (in part for external  but mutually convenient reasons) it would have been more satisfactory if they were entering married life with the hope that their infatuation would turn into love. In the world of arranged marriages, that seems a lot more realistic and wouldn't have completely suspended my disbelief in the story.  I also don't think every romance needs to end with marriage. Sometimes an ending with potential for a stronger long lasting love is okay for me. This is just my opinion on how I think the story could have ended on a better note.

 

I will have to get back to this book later because at the moment it's fallen off my priority list.

I went into this book with no expectations and it's interesting to say the least. The characters were mostly unlikeable yet it seems like the author did that on purpose. I don't think I'll have many strong opinions on this until I read more of the series. I do plan on continuing in the series to see where it goes from here. I like that Quentin's depression was an ongoing theme in the book and isn't something that just went away. It affected his decisions throughout the book and ends up leading to the falling out of a lot of his relationships and feeds his feelings of inadequacy. The depiction of mental health issues were done very well, I think, and I'm hoping with everything Quentin and his friends went through in this book, he'll learn to deal with his depression better. The most interesting characters to me were Janet and Alice. Their dynamic was also very interesting because despite being in the same group of friends, they didn't necessarily get along and Janet could be cruel a lot of the time. Alice on the other hand was shy, but brilliant in ways that matched up to Quentin, which is why the development of their friendship was nice to see. Interesting experience overall.

I found the characters the most interesting part of this story. If you have a preference for more action packed books that are fast paced, this book may not be for you. There is a lot of mystery and intrigue involving mysterious murders occurring in New Orleans in the late 1800s. There is a significant amount of time, especially in the first half of the book, dedicated to character development and their relationships with each other. I think this was a good choice because by the time you find out more about the murders you are emotionally invested in what happens to the characters. There are a lot of mixed and ethnically diverse characters from different countries in the story. In a lot of books with historical settings most characters, if not all, are white, so it was great to see the existence of people of color not be something that was ignored. In fact, most prominent characters in the story are mixed race/people of color. They also aren't represented as servants or of a subservient class. I think with historical fiction a lot of authors ignore the fact that there were people of color in the past who were: white passing, were freed slaves, or had enough privilege or power to be able to live in certain social circles. It was refreshing to see a lot of these characters struggle with their racial identity within the context of the book's time period. It gives a very realistic depiction of what that must have been like for a lot of mixed race people. I was easily able to relate to it as mixed Afro-Latinx person myself. 

The characters have flaws and feel like real people. They also have different levels of privilege and there is a particular part in the book where a character's privilege is pointed out. This scene in the book was one of my favorites because it appropriately made it clear that this individual had not recognized their privilege before the inciting incident in this scene. Despite this, it is clear that they are not a bad person because of it. A lot of people in real life don't  recognize their privilege until they are called out on it, and it just means they made an honest mistake. Ahdieh did an amazing job giving nuance to both characters in the situation while still making social commentary within the story. 

There is more than one perspective in the book and it switches back and forth between the main characters and the murderer in question. The perspective you get from the murderer makes the villain incredibly compelling and is part of what kept reeled into the story. Despite the slow pacing, the perspective from the villain was like an intermittent reminder that there was a looming danger within the story. You also don't get enough hints to accurately be able to point out an obvious culprit for the murders, so the story left me at the edge of my seat the whole time. 

As for the romance, the slower pacing let us get to know Celine and Bastian really well. Both of them have interesting backstories and the historical context of the story plays a role in their decisions they make about the relationship. I like that the historical context wasn't ignored because it helped me stay invested in the story. Bastian is also just charming and likeable and his interactions with Celine are always fun to see.

Overall, if you're into murder/mystery and historical fiction, this is something I think you would enjoy. Don't expect vampires to be in the forefront of the book, it is something that is mostly in the background. They aren't completely ignored, but this also isn't something I would call a vampire book.

The story continues to add on layers of complexity and I think there is still information we are missing, which can make the story a bit harder to keep up with. That isn't something that took away from the experience for me, but I can see some people getting frustrated with this slower arc because we haven't reached a climax yet. 

Rin is having to deal with the aftermath of what he has seen so far.  Rin is having an existential crisis because of all the damage he feels his existence has done to the world.  He has a strong sense of guilt for the events that led to his mother's death as well as the deaths of many exorcists. It's quite depressing to see him go through all this, but it's also giving him a lot of character development. He also had to deal with the consequences of his birth eventually, so I think it's appropriate for it to happen now. 

Shiemi is currently being kept in a garden and being groomed like a doll. I don't know exactly what is going on with that, but it does not feel like it's anything good. Yukio may also not be as far gone as I first thought. We will have to see what happens next to see where his character arc is going. Meanwhile, Lightning's investigation with Ryuji seems to be bearing some fruit for them. The Knights seem to be more willing to believe them, but that doesn't mean their work is done. There are still a lot of plot points left in the air and I am still left with more questions than answers. I'm looking forward to the continuation of this arc and I am sure the payoff will be worth it.

Wow, this has been a sad journey through the past. Yuri is a kind person who did what she thought was best to keep everyone safe. Unfortunately, Satan is a force to be reckoned with and tensions are high between Satan and the exorcists after a hostage situation ensues. There are politics and secrets that the exorcists are really keen about keeping under wraps that are at play here as well. The situation escalates as we see how Yuri ends up pregnant with Rin and Yukio and Fujimoto tries to do his best to help Yuri while still being part of the order of exorcists. Rin is having to process all of this information as it is happening knowing that the end to this story is tragic. I am really feeling for Rin right now and I know that next volume is likely going to be tragic. However, I have to say Kazue Kato has outdone herself with this story arc. The storytelling is seamless and fleshes out character motivations really well. I'm terrified of what's coming, but I trust that Kato will do what is necessary for the story in a way that I will enjoy.  

Rin is currently seeing memories pertaining to his mother, Yuri's, past. The journey has been interesting but has also further obscured the morality of The Knights of the True Cross. It is clear that there have been atrocities committed on both sides of this war and Rin is just someone in the middle of it all.  Yuri had a very difficult childhood,  but despite that, she had a very gentle nature and did not like fighting demons. This might explain how she ended up meeting Satan. Her gentle nature possibly made her vulnerable to having a relationship with him, but that's just a theory for now. We also get to see father Fujimoto when he was much younger and he was a very different person back then. I'm interested in seeing how Fujimoto transformed into the gentle father that Rin and Yukio grew up with. That, or maybe he wasn't as good of a person as we thought he was. The story has taken a much darker tone, but we are also getting really interesting exposition that will eventually make more sense as all of this information comes together. I'm looking forward to continue getting more answers.

Shiemi is currently recovering from her injuries with Izumo and has realized that her romantic feelings for Rin. It's about time, to be honest. Let's just hope they are able to see each other again soon because everything is very complicated right now. On another note, I did not expect Yuri's mother to have fallen in love with Fujimoto. It makes me wonder if maybe Satan impregnated her via Father Fujimoto? That may be a bit of a jump since we don't have enough information yet to really know that, but it just got me thinking. Maybe Fujimoto became influenced by Satan way earlier than at the beginning of the manga. We shall see if any of these theories pan out or not.

I went in blind when I picked this book up and I think that was a good choice. The inciting event in the story is Anya falling down a pit and encountering the ghost of a young woman. The ghost follows her home and eventually initiates a friendship with her. However, this is more a driving force in the story rather than the main point of the story itself. 

Anya is a Russian girl and daughter of Russian immigrants attending a private school funded by her single mother. The story starts off with Anya being highly unlikeable. She rejects her heritage and has many complaints about her life despite her mother's hard work to provide her and her brother with a better life.  In addition, she treats her friends poorly in an effort to better fit in with the popular kids at school and seem more likeable to her crush. There is an in-depth exploration of Anya's internal struggle to fit in as the daughter of immigrants whilst also undergoing tremendous growth as a character as the story progresses. That is really where the meat of the story lies. Her behavior is a projection of her own feelings of inadequacy. As she grows as a character her priorities and behavior change for the better. She becomes a better person and her character growth is really what the plot is about. I was highly impressed with how well the writer integrated Anya's character growth into this fantastical story. The haunting elements were fun, but did not distract from the heart of the story. 

I found this a super enjoyable graphic novel to read and I think it's great to pick up for anyone who is new to comics/graphic novels.