The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

Summary from Goodreads:

Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.

Review:

As soon as I finished this book, this is what I wrote on Goodreads: “Sometimes a book is so good, you have to finish it slowly, to savor its final words. I savored the whole 679 page volume like it was my favorite French dessert eaten at a cafe in Paris, at midnight when anything is possible. I’m so happy I finally dove into this series and was able to read one book after the other -almost like one epic fantasy, instead of 3. It was a flight of sweet, crunchy yet creamy crème brûlées. I almost feel sorry for the book that comes next.”

I loved this book. I loved the whole series, really. It kind of blew me away into a fantasy world I wasn’t expecting to fall for. Lia is the ultimate kick-butt fantasy main character in this installment. She leads rescue parties, defends herself from attackers, bravely stands up to the family that appears to have rejected her, fights for her freedom, fights for those she loves, and saves the lives of so many people. Watch out, Wonder Woman. Lia is a superhero in her own right.

I loved getting a happy ending for so many characters. I loved finally learning what was what with Lia’s family. I loved learning more about the secret text Lia’s been carrying with her for 3 books. I loved getting so much resolution for all the kingdoms. I accept the the ship that sailed, though it may not have been what I secretly wanted. It made sense. And I knew it was coming. I loved the strong lady side characters here. Considering one woman goes from giving birth to fighting for her friend in a blink of an eye, the fierceness was something else.

 But, most of all, I love Lia. I love how far she’s come. I love how she refuses to let anything or anyone get in the way of her doing what’s right for her people. Kingdoms over bros. Seriously, I had so much respect for her when she parted ways with her love –even though my inner romantic hated it. Her bravery and loyalty was a force in this book.

Stuff did seem to resolve kind of quickly at the end. But, I was kind of glad it did because I’m not a huge war story fan. And I was worried it would be all war at the end. I’m glad things ended the way they did. All in all, this series was unbelievable, and I’m so glad I read it. This book gets a 10/10.