This is the third and final book in the series. I reviewed the first two, THE BONE WITCH and THE HEART FORGER. If you don't want anything spoiled about the previous books, I'd strongly recommend skipping this review.
An amazon summary while you make good choices, "In the Eight Kingdoms, none have greater strength or influence than the asha, who hold elemental magic. But only a bone witch has the power to raise the dead. Tea has used this dark magic to breathe life into those she has loved and lost...and those who would join her army against the deceitful royals. But Tea's quest to conjure a shadowglass, to achieve immortality for the one person she loves most in the world, threatens to consume her.
Tea's heartsglass only grows darker with each new betrayal. Her work with the monstrous azi, her thirst for retribution, her desire to unmask the Faceless―they all feed the darkrot that is gradually consuming her heartsglass. She is haunted by blackouts and strange visions, and when she wakes with blood on her hands, Tea must answer to a power greater than the elder asha or even her conscience. Tea's life―and the fate of the kingdoms―hangs in the balance." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
This is the trilogy finale, and like oh my gosh what a crazy finish as all of the pieces finally come together of such an ambitious project to even begin with. Like what. I kind of want to go back and reread all three books together just to make sure I didn't miss anything...but there are so many other books waiting for me to read. Book life struggles.
Anywho.
The present Tea is on the hunt to uncover the truth of kind of a founding story of the Asha. She's also fleeing her kingdom and dealing with a new threat of people becoming blighted. After consuming a certain amount of doses within regular meals, they're transformed into a crazy monster without any way to revert back to human. The present Tea is wrestling with a lot of internal conflicts as well as external conflicts. She's very worried about the dark flecks that are still appearing in her heartsglass, and she also wants to look out for her brother, friends, and family (kind of in that order too). However, Tea still needs to figure out which faceless needs to be taken out to undermine the faceless organization (this book's team rocket. No, I will not stop referring to them as team rocket because it makes me laugh and still feels fitting). There are many trials ahead of her as we know from the previous books, but the journey she has to make is still crazy, and it's still a surprise some of the ordeals she goes through to become the future Tea we've seen since book 1.
The future Tea is kind of, well, quiet so to speak in this book. The future sections are more so through the eyes of the journalist and he becomes separated from Tea, but still wishes to get back to her. He also has letters from her which she promises tell a more complete story of what's going on.
However, as all of this begins to come together, it's crucial to see that Tea is trying to make the best choices for her friends and family as she ultimately seeks the Shadow Glass.
That's enough summary.
I really like this conclusion to the series. I think it wrapped up enough of the unanswered questions, while not giving the sensation of everything being wrapped up too neatly. There were also so many times I wound up cheering for present Tea, even though I had a hint of some of the brutal hardships that were going to happen thanks to the previous books, but actually reading through it was a little gut wrenching.
I also had a few questions about the heartforger in particular, but I don't think those questions were meant to be answered in this book. I kind of wander if we're going to see a side story or a spin off story despite how the book ended. There was also so much rich history introduced in this book that I would hate to see that not come to a greater fruition. I would love to read more stories set in this world.
But, this feels like the conclusion of Tea's story, with potential appearances in someone else's story if there are more books in this world. I'll remain hopeful.
Happy reading!
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