Hold on to your feathers, this might be a long one... If you don't wanna read it all - KNOW... THIS BOOK IS AMAZING AND DESERVES ALLL THE STARS IN THE SKY!
JUST GO READ THIS SERIES IF YOU LOVE FANTASY AND ROMANCE!

This book is the third book in the Guardians of the Maiden Series and I don't really want to get into spoilers around what happens in this book, but just know that it is action-packed. It is beautiful. It is high stakes. It is epic and it is really inspiring to see how our characters have grown from who they were in book one to where they have come to now.

Reading this book was like an extraordinary out-of-body experience that I SWEAR... I have ascended to a new level just as the story ascended to a new level! This is an amazing piece of brilliance with its cleverness, complexity, and interwovenness. To see how excellently the puzzle pieces were laid out in previous books; so intelligently, that something that was just almost a passing sentence from the first book became this big plot point of importance in this instalment! Eeeeeek!

In terms of the writing, I absolutely adored this. It was easy to read and easy to devour. The scenery was amazing but the worldbuilding and just how everything fit together, was PERFECT. You have to be really excellent at writing to be able to manage to do that and captivate and create such a complex story that's still really easy to understand while still being able to keep a reader entertained. It's a skill when a writer manages to create a world and create characters that will crawl into your heart, and that will make your heart burn if anything happens to those characters.

I felt so many emotions while reading this book and to say this book concretely overshoots the previous two in amazingness is probably the understatement of the year, the decade, and the century. Beck Michaels has completely surpassed herself in this novel. Do not be daunted by the length because I admit that I was... but rather go into the story thinking that it is three novels interwoven in one. The story is split into three distinct parts and each has its own almost smallish story that contributes to the main overarching story in a really brilliant way.

The other aspect that should be touched on is books one and two, were very YA. You don't really get anything steamy and in general, the plot previously wasn't as rough on the "dark side"or emotional triggers. That is not the case in Shattered Souls. This book does up the ante quite a bit in terms of steam and trigger warnings. It is steamy, almost to the point that it is bordering on NA and my gosh, did these characters go through a lot of hardships as well! The emotional rollercoaster, as much as that is a cliche term that I felt reading this...

There were some moments that I was screaming at myself frantically thinking, Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. There were some moments that I saw coming and had speculated about quite a while before they came. (Lila can confirm with all the messages that I guessed a few things way way before and according to her left her astounded how I "knew") There were times when I was a gushy mess of sunshine and rainbows and squeals and happiness and joy. It was just absolutely adorable and heartwarming at just how cute and fuzzy some of the things were, especially with Dyna and Cassiel. But then there were also times my heart was broken and shattered into a million little pieces... and that ending might have left it as a shattered mess on the floor to be stepped and trodden on.

If I take a moment to look at the characters, I absolutely love them. They are all amazing and even the NEW ONE's WE MEET are EPIC AND AMAZING!

What I also truly appreciate is that Michaels has a way of really playing with your emotions with the characters. She can make you feel for the villain, in a way that has you totally sympathizing or understanding their motivations making it really difficult to hate them. She did this beautifully with Tarn. The elusive Mastermind. You really see who he was and what made him the way that he is.

Zev...that little cinnamon roll is still coddled in my heart and absolutely I adore him. He is so strong, fierce and caring and while he is still broken inside from the despair of what he's gone through and the trauma that he's experienced. How he puts that aside to be protective of Dyna is so admirable and beautiful.

Lucenna is still my role model, and I have MAJOR aspirations to be her when I fully grow up. Girl power exudes through everything she does. She is a boss! Truly feisty and knows what she wants. She's a powerful bitch and she owns it. I love how she has taken her role as a guardian really seriously and how loyal she is to Dyna.

Rawn that gentle, wise calm and sweet Legolas lookalike! I really need him to see his wife soon because the fact that all he wants to do is complete his quest for his family and get back to his wife, is HEARTBREAKING!!!! Give him a chance to hold his wife!!!

Von. I'm sorry I did not like you. I didn't understand you and to see more of you and see a completely different side of you was really eye-opening. It locks home the message that you shouldn't judge somebody by a couple of experiences because you never really know what is underneath and what is motivating them to do what they are doing. And you are one of the people that have now crawled themselves into my heart, and I cherish you. You and Yavi are going nowhere because your relationship is beautiful and so endearing.

Then we have Dyna and Cassiel! Those two are what I mean when I say I love a slow burn with a fantastic payoff. Because, my God, I have had to go through three books before these two actually got together in any sense that actually mattered. And boy was their relationship sweet, naive but incredibly intricate. It was a beautiful relationship that transcends "soul mates" to a whole nother level. To say that these two would go to the ends of the earth for each other and would do anything to protect and be there for each other is almost an understatement of how much these two value each other.

I absolutely adored Dyna and how she grew and how she comes alive as she finds her power in this book and finds out who she is and who she needs to be. She is no longer that small, innocent and powerless girl that left North Star all those months ago. And Cass, as much as he puts on the brave face of being that broody, dark prince. He is no longer that Prince either, even though he still has some of the scars and the trauma from that time. The two of them just bring out a strength in each other that defines what a romance should be.

As much as this book is long, It felt like this book had the right pace. And even though we still had quite a lot of POVs because we have spent so much time in those smaller stories, they kind of feel like part of the bigger story now. This was a big change as normally I do not like so many POV's but I didn't feel as if the story dragged. I was now invested in every character and everything going on and I just wanted to spend more time with each of them to find out what was going to happen.

I can not get over the fact at just how BRILLIANT everything culminates together and came together in an absolutely stunning, stunning, stunning (did I say stunning yet?) addition to the story.

All in all, this book was a wild ride. I loved it. Don't be scared by the length. Take it slowly, take it in stride, and just enjoy the excellence for what it is. BECAUSE it is a freaking perfect piece of literature and is amazing.

More people should read this!