Friday Reads: Series Enders - Forest of Ruin & Until The Beginning!!

Hello there guys!

For this week's Friday Reads I'm gonna have a pair of mini reviews for books that are series enders and I hope to keep reading more and finishing more series along the summer!

Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A very intriguing and satisfying final book for a great trilogy! YA fantasy at its finest! I might have had a reservation or two about the way certain developments came about, but overall loved it!

After the big dual cliffhangers on the last book, I was quite happy to finally dive into this one! I loved the journeys that each one of the sisters went on, and how much growth both of them had on this book. There's been a lot of growth for both of them over the series, but even more in this one!

Being apart for so long has strengthen their relationship, given them a better understanding of their own weaknesses & strenghts and an even understanding of the strenghts and character of the other. Pulling a lil bit of a "What Would Ashyn/Moria Do?" now and then still being true to who they are.

I loved how the relationships progressed and built. Not just talking about the romantic ones, although I really loved how the sisters found someone that would support and love them, even if Moira had that one a lil bit more easy than Ashyn did. But I love how Ashyn decided to take charge in her own way and not let anyone's doubts to guide her actions. There were a few lack of communication moments, but not enough to irritate me enough. Family is important here and some of the familial relationships were complex and twisted and very well written, even if they weren't always positive.

A few unexpected revelations happened, thankfully we MEET THE DRAGONS!! And although there's the awaited conflict that we've been preparing for in the previous books, we don't really come to all out war. Some of my reservations have to do with some events in the big climax but still quite satisfied with the book ending. I guess I'd love to get a bit of an epilogue to check on the characters further on (hello, future vision??) but all in all, very much deserved 4 stars to this one!



Until the Beginning by Amy Plum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fantastic second and final book in this duology! I love Amy's writing and I love how she can craft intriguing and fully complex characters!

The book picks up right in the rather cliffhanger-y ending of book 1, After the End, and thankfully making progress and not stalling making us worry and wail.

Juneau and Miles have a wonderful relationship and partnership. It keeps growing and progressing through the book, as both of them grow and adapt to their new realities. Both have introduced the other to things they didn't know where they and they make each other better and stronger.

There's a lot more information revealed to Juneau about herself, her past and even the Yara, and although that creates quite a bit of conflict for her and her relationships with her clan and her father in particular. But I love how she decides to face everything with love, with strenght and with allowing herself to give herself time and space to figure things out while never losing sight of the urgent matters at hand.

The climax was not exactly as I was expecting at first, but it was very much the right thing to happen in the right way, even with a few surprise foes to come at the last minute, but nothing that doesn't fit with the storyline and the plot. I love when I get surprises that I should have expected to happen!

Although the ending has a bit of an open ending, it is one that I welcome and not resent, because it's more about the next big adventure but the big conflict is over and behind us.

Very much deserved 4 stars!

Saturday Pages: Empire At Night by Kelley Armstrong!!

Hi there guys!

Happy Saturday! Having the weekend off is quite amazing and a nice change, so I'm going to the cinema with a friend and spending some time reading and relaxing, and continue plotting apartment decoration!

I'm starting this week's Saturday Pages with the review of the sequel of the very first Alyssa Recommends book!! I'm gonna be counting this one as part of my 105 Challenge since this is a 2015 release and that's one of my categories in the challenge!

Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Last year I read Sea of Shadows as my first ever Alyssa Recommends book and it was a fantastic start. I loved the world building, the magic, the main characters and the way the plot was progressing as an overall series ARC and the plot driving the book. So I was extremely intrigued and awaiting eagerly the sequel.

It was a happy coincidence that the edition I happened to preorder in my Kindle not the US one and ended up downloading on April 1st instead of having to wait till April 7th!

Despite having read the first book a year ago and not having the clearest memory of everything that happened, I never felt lost or confused, and we quickly get up to date with what's going on now after the events of book 1. Ashyn and Moria are at the Emperor's palace as guests, and both are uneasy because they feel they ought to be doing something more after what they witness and being Keeper and Seeker.

Empire of Night is a fantastic sequel. We get character growth for both Moira and Ashyn, we learn more about Ronan and Tyrus and even Gavriel and the Emperor. When we're not having quiet moments of character development and dealing with court politics and intrigues, we finally start moving into the action to the moderate happines of Moira, that was chaffing at the inaction.

There's so much plotting and crafting in this book and despite having the sisters together for a good portion of it, since they're dealing in their different ways with the aftermath of what happened in book 1 and their grief and guilt about it, they are emotionally stranged somewhat. Then once they start being on the move again, they find themselves working together and dealing with the dangers as a team once again.

The mission they find themselves in ends up quite disastrously and the sisters end up once again separated, Moria kidnapped, Tyrus with Ashyn and Ronan and a big mess underway for them all. Treachery, political intrigues (again) and lies all over the place makes any rescue plans or direct action complicated, so there's a lot of hiding and spying and escaping.

There was very subtle romance in the first book and in this one things are less subtle but still didn't take over the book either. The romance not only was adorable even with some heartbreak in there but also was a fantastic way to get to know and develop our characters even more. Moria and Tyrus make a fantastic team as friends and as a couple and I love how their relationship developed.

I love the nuances of the culture and world building, how there's more to everything that we think at first, and then once the book it's almost over... we encounter not one but TWO cliffhangers, of very different sort with each one of the sisters' POV! Both equally intriguing and maddening and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one, when does the next book comes out?!?!



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