"They don't know their fates are in the hands of a couple of misfits and dreamers."

"And Viggo."

3/5 stars

I want to preface this review with 1) Thank you to Goodreads and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and 2) I love Megan Shepherd s o m u c h ([b:The Madman’s Daughter|12291438|The Madman’s Daughter (The Madman’s Daughter, #1)|Megan Shepherd|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1354155885l/12291438._SY75_.jpg|17268041] triology is *chef kiss emoji* and Rolf, Nok, Lucky, Leon, and Mali from [b:The Cage|16071187|The Cage (The Cage, #1)|Megan Shepherd|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414088833l/16071187._SY75_.jpg|21864995] are literally my children) so know that I had very high expectations going into this series finale.

Plot: 3/5 - Much like the first book, I think that there was a lot of thought put into this world... in a way that was almost overwhelming. Although I was better able to keep track of the differences between pretties/beasties/goblins/witches/royals it was still A Lot of information. I'm still perplexed about the complexities of magic vs technology in this story, especially when it comes to vehicles, but at this point all I can do is just wash my hands of it. I absolutely loved the first part of this story, which focused on a magical competition of sorts (for lack of spoilers). I thought the characters involved in that section were very intriguing and that there was a lot of suspense building for me. I also thought that certain events brought about by this competition were SO AMAZING for Anouk's character growth, and I wish we had been able to spend more time getting to know her both with and without magic. Oh, and there were two twists at different points in the story that had me surprised, they were very well executed.

However, still consistent with the first book, I found myself caring about the relationships between the characters and not at all about the real conflict. Like I really, really, really didn't care about the politics or the curses or anything, I just wanted to see the characters come into their own (particularly the beasties), develop further (yes, Rennar, I'm looking at you, and also my darling Petra), and see how their relationships grow. Sadly, I did not get as much of this as I wanted. It's pretty par for the course for a fantasy novel to be plot-driven, but that doesn't mean I can't be disappointed.


Characters: 3/5 - I'm SO TORN when I talk about these characters because, while there are a few characters I absolutely adore, I feel like they were either not utilized to the best of their ability in the story, didn't get the page time and development they deserved, or they were KILLED OFF. For the other main characters, I was intrigued by many of them but they came across as quite one-dimensional to me.

I thought the love triangle throughout this second book was so spicy (mamma mia I love me some good romantic/sexual tension), but it was concluded in a way that was cheap and lazy and that I will never forgive.

Pacing: 2/5 - First act: amazing pacing. From then on, too many action scenes that are now a jumble of knives and whispers in my mind. The end was SO RUSHED, and I mean SO RUSHED, that when I hit the last twelve pages I actually swore out loud about the turn of events.

Writing: 4/5 - I really like Megan Shepherd's writing! I love this world in which language is so prevalent, both due to the fact that it's mainly set in Paris and so our characters only swear in French (so cheeky) and because of the language of spells the magical folks use. I didn't end up jotting down a ton of quotes but there were a few moments that made me chuckle and there's a monologue that a certain character gives at the end that I would honestly like framed above my bed so I can see it every night when I go to sleep and every morning when I wake up.

Enjoyment: 3/5 - Sadly, my enjoyment of this conclusion was very middle-of-the-road. The characters I love had me engaged, but when they were under-utilized or sacrificed for the plot I just became utterly frustrated. It's also a really long book and I felt bogged down by it in the middle third. I wanted to love it just because it's Megan Shepherd, but in the end my high hopes left me feeling a bit disappointed. Fans of urban fantasy might get more enjoyment from this than I did!