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A review by veronicafrance
Ofrenda a la tormenta by Dolores Redondo
3.0
I'm sad to have finished this trilogy, but there's a hint at the end of this that we haven't seen the last of Amaia and her spiritual guide.
This has the same ingredients as the previous volumes, albeit with less emphasis on the supernatural. It pulls in many elements from the earlier novels and definitely can't be read as a standalone story. It's difficult to review without spoilers, but there is a really shocking and unexpected event in the middle, which draws out Redondo's best writing in the whole of the series -- you are there with Amaia, seeing through her eyes, and it racks up the tension in the rest of the book. For once I figured out who the baddie was quite soon after this, but that doesn't spoil the story, in fact it's rather satisfying (I'd actually had my suspicions of this person in book 2, but then dismissed them). The final scene is totally OTT and a bit hackneyed), but I'll forgive her. She was clearly thinking of the cinema adaptation!
It's not without its faults. There are an awful lot of crime victims, and I recommend writing down their names as you go along, otherwise you'll get confused about who is who and who did what. Another review here says that the major characters haven't just developed, they've become totally different people, and I can see their point. A major theme in volume 2 was Amaia's fears about being a bad mother (understandable given her history). Yet in this volume she doesn't seem to give a damn. For plot reasons, Redondo packs James and Ibai off to the US, and after a tearful farewell, Amaia barely seems to notice they've gone. James is more of a cipher than ever here, but her feelings for Ibai seem to have disappeared too. The actions of some people didn't seem to fit with what we knew about them. I was also disappointed with the dénouement of the situation with her mother -- I found it a bit of an anti-climax (can't say more without spoilers). Of the three, I think [b:Legado en los huesos|18741291|Legado en los huesos (Trilogía del Baztán, #2)|Dolores Redondo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383133492s/18741291.jpg|26620327] is the best.
This has the same ingredients as the previous volumes, albeit with less emphasis on the supernatural. It pulls in many elements from the earlier novels and definitely can't be read as a standalone story. It's difficult to review without spoilers, but there is a really shocking and unexpected event in the middle, which draws out Redondo's best writing in the whole of the series -- you are there with Amaia, seeing through her eyes, and it racks up the tension in the rest of the book. For once I figured out who the baddie was quite soon after this, but that doesn't spoil the story, in fact it's rather satisfying (I'd actually had my suspicions of this person in book 2, but then dismissed them). The final scene is totally OTT and a bit hackneyed
Spoiler
(the cavalry turns up at the last minuteIt's not without its faults. There are an awful lot of crime victims, and I recommend writing down their names as you go along, otherwise you'll get confused about who is who and who did what. Another review here says that the major characters haven't just developed, they've become totally different people, and I can see their point. A major theme in volume 2 was Amaia's fears about being a bad mother (understandable given her history). Yet in this volume she doesn't seem to give a damn. For plot reasons, Redondo packs James and Ibai off to the US, and after a tearful farewell, Amaia barely seems to notice they've gone. James is more of a cipher than ever here, but her feelings for Ibai seem to have disappeared too. The actions of some people didn't seem to fit with what we knew about them