Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEpic finale!
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021
What an incredible adventure! From the beginning to end, the Shadow Beast trilogy has been a spellbinding magical thrill ride, an epic story with a breathtaking and emotional romance at its center and a magnificent heroine on the path to liberating self-actualization. I swooned, I laughed, and I shed tears of joy and pain as this fantastical crew of unlikely friends fight to restore the balance, to find their way back to each other, and to save the world and each other. Love, loss, heroism, and sacrifice- our final book in this quest lays everything on the line. Does it get anymore epic than that?
While this series is called Shadow Beast Shifters, this series, this world, is truly Mera’s. And my goodness, what a heroine. By far the most compelling heroine Jaymin Eve has ever scribed- which is saying a lot given all the powerful women she has in her arsenal. This is character writing at it’s finest- the way Jaymin has evolved this broken and lonely outsider and transformed her into a formidable leader. But Jaymin never changes the fabric of who Mera is- she’s still the quirky, feisty survivor we met back in Torma. The same curious, resilient, big hearted rejected mate we grew to love. Jaymin doesn’t change the core of her- rather she let’s Mera mature into herself, lean into the strengths and power and core of herself that she’s always possessed but never had the support or love to fully manifest. Jaymin doesn't change her- she UNLEASHES her, she lets her be reborn as her fullest self- the unrestrained, unstoppable, unforgettable Mera. The Mera whose uniqueness shines rather than isolates, a Mera who is the center rather than the reject. And what a site it is to behold.
Of course, we also have our quirky and enchanting cast of characters surrounding this journey. This unlikely team of creatures that are united by an unbreakable familial bond. And, we have the swooniest version of Shadow Beast yet, he's oozing his love for Mera and yearning for her. Mera’s new pack gives such a rich and tender nuance to this story- it gives us moments of levity and calm, of heartbreak and pain, of vulnerability and strength. Amidst the heart pounding fantasy and action, this family gives us heart and soul- the quiet, gentle, slow, but powerful notes in the doomsday symphony surrounding them.
That cliffhanger in Reclaimed was devastating, and Jaymin does not make it easy, or quick, for Mera and her friends to right the changes thrust upon them. But love- LOVE can not be denied. The love of her Shadow, the love of her friends, the love of her true pack. And that is what I love most about this series- how it comes full circle. Mera begins as an outsider in her own family, rejected, packless within her own pack, the thorn in their side. And over the course of this story, she finds her TRUE pack, no longer the outsider, no longer rejected, because Mera is the heart of her chosen family, she’s the center. And somehow the character who only wanted to be loved and to matter finds her way to a family that doesn’t just CHOOSE her, doesn’t just claim her, but they fight for her. The rejected wolf who was all alone makes a final stand surrounded by friends, by LOVE.
Jaymin Eve sure can weave a tale- the world building, the magic, the twists, the world-is-ending drama that all knit together to highlight the true essence of this story- LOVE. Love of all kinds- a love that empowers self, a love that inspires, a love that can perhaps even save you, that perhaps can save the world. “Right or wrong, you and I exist together….or we don’t exist at all.” And that is the greatest, most profound adventure of all- finding a love that speaks to the essence of your soul. A love that can somehow make you more human while also making you superhuman.
Shadow Beast Shifters is paranormal, romantic fantasy at it’s finest- because LOVE and connection, what make us the most human, the most vulnerable, end up being the most powerful magic of all. My heart is so fool- ALL THE FEELS for this heart stopping finale!
