Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsA solid ending, I suppose.
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2018
I wanted to like this book as much as the first four, but... I couldn't. The pace was vastly different, and plot-wise not a lot happened. The author glossed over days, and even weeks in a single paragraph. At times it seemed more about the plot and less about the characters. The pace was just off.
Sadly, Aldrik and Val's chemistry seemed to fade in the background except for a couple moments where I felt that familiar spark they had in the first four books. We did not get nearly as many meaningful scenes with them, and only a couple that stirred my emotions at all. A lot of their stolen moments were completely glossed over. I am also deeply saddened and very disappointed that they never got their Bond back. That was one of the worst parts of this book for me, as I would have loved to see their beautiful Bond restored after they had some time to develop as a couple without it. Especially after the horror she experienced with Victor. I was extremely let down.
Character-wise, I felt that Adrik lost a lot of his commanding, powerful presence in this one. He, too, faded into the background and into Val's shadow... So much so that I struggled to see them as equals, as I used to. Val called almost all of the shots, and Aldrik lost a lot of his reckless, passionate spirit that drew me to his character since the beginning. The fearsome, raging Fire Lord seemed no more, and was replaced by a weaker character that I probably would not have been as fond of had this been him in the beginning of the story. Instead of being a powerful leader and co-leader with Val, he became more like Val's tech support, and he lost his voice and some of the beloved traits that made him *him*. It made me sad, because no one likes to see this happen to their favorite characters.
At least we got a happy ending... however it was weird getting a different voice in the epilogue than Val's. I liked seeing more of the side characters, too.
