Summary:
The final installment of the trilogy starts off very slow in the first three to four chapters. The narrative switches points of view between Alera and Shaselle. The voice of Shaselle adds some new flavor to the series. Shaselle is able to tell us about what happens outside of the palace. Alera is now queen. She has to attempt to pull the kingdom together in spite of the largely unhappy populace. She makes decisions that she believes are the best for Hytanica, but she is also attempting to maintain her relationship with Narian which clouds her decisions. Shaselle is attempting to figure out her place in society. Her father was killed in the last book, so she is a little lost. She's expected to marry, but she is also an independent spirit that is enjoying a great amount of freedom.
My thoughts:
This is not a series for everyone and the beginning of this book is super slow. I'm assuming that by reading this novel, you have already gone through the first two novels and enjoyed those. That means you are already invested in the characters and story line. Alera is not very likeable in this book. She keeps making rather stupid decisions and then attempting to justify herself because of her relationship to Narian. Narian has always been a rather unlikeable character, so that doesn't help. Shaselle is the most interesting character in this story. She is developed the most, but that is because we are seeing her point of view. I liked this deviation from the first two books because getting out of Alera's mind was refreshing. The rebels are interesting and life outside the palace gives the world building a time to shine. I tended to enjoy the setting much more than the characters, but that is just because I never had a favorite. It seems all of the characters do rather stupid things and have just as many negative qualities as positive ones. All in all, everything wraps up fairly nicely and answers all of my lingering questions.
The final installment of the trilogy starts off very slow in the first three to four chapters. The narrative switches points of view between Alera and Shaselle. The voice of Shaselle adds some new flavor to the series. Shaselle is able to tell us about what happens outside of the palace. Alera is now queen. She has to attempt to pull the kingdom together in spite of the largely unhappy populace. She makes decisions that she believes are the best for Hytanica, but she is also attempting to maintain her relationship with Narian which clouds her decisions. Shaselle is attempting to figure out her place in society. Her father was killed in the last book, so she is a little lost. She's expected to marry, but she is also an independent spirit that is enjoying a great amount of freedom.
My thoughts:
This is not a series for everyone and the beginning of this book is super slow. I'm assuming that by reading this novel, you have already gone through the first two novels and enjoyed those. That means you are already invested in the characters and story line. Alera is not very likeable in this book. She keeps making rather stupid decisions and then attempting to justify herself because of her relationship to Narian. Narian has always been a rather unlikeable character, so that doesn't help. Shaselle is the most interesting character in this story. She is developed the most, but that is because we are seeing her point of view. I liked this deviation from the first two books because getting out of Alera's mind was refreshing. The rebels are interesting and life outside the palace gives the world building a time to shine. I tended to enjoy the setting much more than the characters, but that is just because I never had a favorite. It seems all of the characters do rather stupid things and have just as many negative qualities as positive ones. All in all, everything wraps up fairly nicely and answers all of my lingering questions.
