After loving the first two books of this series, I have just been bubbling with excitement, ready to completely immerse myself into what surely must be the epic last book of this trilogy. There is no way A Vow So Bold and Deadly would let me down, right?
Sigh.
Diving into this book was like diving into... nothing. Because nothing happens in the first half (that's 200 pages!) of this book. When we left off at the end of book 2, it was clear that war is coming. So I expected to jump right into war, or conflict, or excitement. But instead, we are treated to scene after scene of preparing for war, talking about war, training for war, and petty squabbles about war.
We are also treated to Lia Mara's insufferable dithering in pretty much every scene. In the previous book, it wasn't as irritating because she was still growing and figuring out where she belongs. But the character growth I expected out of her never materialized in this book. She is still doubting herself and never standing up for what she believes in, instead allowing everyone to walk all over her. She is constantly hesitating and gasping and being startled. At one point, she almost cried when there was food in front of her. Ugh, how am I supposed to cheer for her as a leader when she doesn't even have the courage to eat?
In this book, all four main characters' stories converge, and we get to see it from each of their perspectives. I have been looking forward to this, but it left me a little confused. Often, I didn't really understand each character's reasoning for doing what they were doing. They all say they want peace, but then their actions would make the other side believe the opposite, which leads to unnecessary conflict.
Thankfully, the plot finally starts to coalesce around the halfway point. And once the action gets going, all the things I have loved about this series up to now emerges again. My girl Harper is as badass as ever, showing courage and strength in the face of overwhelming adversity. Our favorite villain is back in force, wrecking havoc and destruction in our characters' lives. And Rhen and Grey come face to face again, and their interactions are as wonderful and heartwarming as I remember.
Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad book. But it was the weakest of the trilogy simply because it didn't have enough meat to fill out its bones. There was so much unnecessary filler in the beginning, it completely bogged down the pacing. And since all the action and development was saved for the end, the rest of the book felt meandering and plodding.
Still, I enjoyed the way the conclusion wrapped everything up, and felt it sufficiently brought a terrific series to its end. I'm just walking away a little disappointed that the last book of the trilogy wasn't as superb as the earlier ones.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
My heartfelt thanks for the advance copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.
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