Aurora's End

4 stars — Hmmm…the parts I loved, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED. But it wasn’t quite the humdinger I was hoping for I guess. Also, this review is going to be all over the place, apologies in advance (though I did try super hard not to spoil ANYTHING). I think I expected them to come back together quicker than they did. I enjoy them as a group, so I wanted that. The parts I enjoyed the most were definitely Zila/Scar/Fin, because I got that group dynamic with them. As the trilogy went on, I grew less and less interested in Auri, and subsequently Kal. I think that’s a bit of a shame. I know she was never going to be a favourite of mine, apparently her personality just isn’t a good fit. I honestly was completely confused about her conflict at the end. I still don’t understand her motivations at different moments of the climax. She’s also a lot more dense than I want. I don’t mind her being a bit slower, but seriously…it took her forever to figure out what was happening in the beginning of this book. The thing with Kal is that he just became Auri’s Be’shmai. And even at that he was very background in this book, or that’s how it felt. And I wanted more for him, there was so much where he could have played a larger role. At least we got to learn a bit more about his childhood. The ending felt a bit like a cop out. I could have seen a few other possibilities, and both would have felt a bit more poignant. I found myself crying and crying and crying in so many parts of this book, but never about Auri and Kal. I just lost all my connection to them, or that’s how it felt. Gosh, there were a lot of repetitive moments in this one. If I had to listen to Ty recount how Cat hit him over the head with the chair when they were 5 one more time I was going to growl. I feel like the rest of the squad all had interesting stories. Like I said, I adored ZSF’s journey the most. I felt so much of what they were going through. It had everything — action, intensity, fear, humour, love. I ADORED it. I figured a few things out, but definitely not others — or not until much later. I was so INVESTED in their journey. Even Ty’s was pretty interesting actually. I felt for him being on his own…well, other than Saedii. I enjoyed that tidbit, even if it was outside my zone. And he went through so much and grew so much too. And then there was the other vignette. I feel like I got lost in a lot of what was happening, in the motivations of so many of the characters. I appreciated that some stayed very true to who they were, but I will admit that made the final motivations less clear. All in all, I seriously do just love this series. I was a bit bummed with parts of this book, but not so much that the other parts didn’t completely make up for it.

Never felt compelled enough to leave a book review but this series is amazing, I listened to the audio book and just... *chefs kiss* Over the span of the series I've grown so attached to the characters and gotten so invested in this world, the character development and world building is fantastic. Hats off to these authors. It's always a bittersweet feeling ending a series but such a satisfying ending. I cried like a baby. Loved it.