The way I can tell if I have enjoyed a series is by how I
feel afterwards. Does the story stay with me or do the characters fade from my
memory? Do I want more or am I completely satisfied? Am I okay after finishing
the series? I am not okay, just in case you were wondering. After putting this
book down, after turning the final page, I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream
and I wanted to curl up into a tiny ball and stay there for days. I now love
and hate this series at the same time. I love it for how amazing and beautiful
it is, yet I hate it because it's over. I want more and I need more. I could
have read a million books about Alina, Mal, the Darkling and Nikolai, but I
don't think that I would have been satisfied, even after all of that. And that
is how I know that this is, and will always be, one of my favourite book
series.
In these books I have found that months pass in and between
each one, yet I feel like it has all taken place within a few seconds. It was
only when Alina reminded me that it was a year since they had boarded the skiff
that would take them into the Fold for the first time that I truly realised it.
This series was not one patch worked together and stuffed into a few busy
months, it was a year. A horrific year of death and turmoil, but a year none
the less. More has happened in that time than I would have thought possible. It
feels like we've been in every nook and crevice in this world, that we've
climbed every mountain and visited every
village, though we haven't. The time elapsed in these books and all the places
that have been travelled to make it feel like that though. It makes Ravka feel
like a home, not a particularly nice one, but a home still and one that I will
be very sad to leave behind, at least for a little while.
The developments that were made in this book really excited
me. I was keen to learn more about Morozova and how his story linked in with
that of Baghra. Her story made me quite sad in a way. I was happy to learn more
about everything that had transpired to create the amplifiers, but it was
disheartening to hear about the impacts of such a passion and discovery. It
foretold the end, but did not complete the story and for that I'm glad.
My only disappointment from this series would be the
romantic choices of Alina. In 'Siege and Storm' it appeared to me as if Alina
was starting to fall for Nikolai, but after a few months underground, all that
had seemed to change without much reason. Though the ending of this book left
me semi-happy with Alina's final choice, I would have preferred it if Alina and
Nikolai had ended up together. Still, I have not let that influence how I feel
about the end of such a wonderful series as it is about more than just romance.
Our old enemy death returned with brutality in this novel. It
was sad to see so many fall, but good that the impact of each death was
acknowledged and not ignored. Even though I spent most of this series wanting
the Darkling dead, now it has actually happened, I'm not sure how I feel about
it. All he had wanted was someone who he could be equal with, and more power,
but let's ignore that now, and he was denied even that. In some ways I pity
him, but in the end that is still no excuse to go round killing people left,
right and centre.
This series is one that I'm sure I'll return to one day
because of how stunning it is as a story with such amazing characters. I'm
upset that, for me, now, this story is over. Should I have savoured it more?
Should I have spent longer over each word or sentence? Though, none of that
matters now as the book is shut and I feel like I am a better person after
reading these brilliant books.
No comments:
Post a Comment