What an epic finish to this amazing trilogy. Pierce Brown has a way of writing that will have your calves looking like tree trunks with how often you’re standing on your toes. The stakes are high and the fluid transitions between scenes keeps them that way.
I’ve grown to really like Darrow and those first couple chapters were hard to read. You could feel the helplessness and misery Darrow went through as he was tortured for a year. How he was able to recover and use that perspective throughout was impressive. He knew he couldn’t take half measures anymore and made some decisions that he would never have in the earlier books.
Similar to the prior books, there’s a lot of action. The endgame is near and you can feel it creeping closer and closer. No character feels safe from death and the anxiety that Darrow felt transferred to me. I would be exhausted after certain tense scenes and I can’t recall the last time a series made me just sit and think instead of continuously reading.
Spoilers Ahead:
I was extremely pissed off near the end when Cassius “betrayed” Darrow and killed Sevro. I had to take a day before continuing after that first happened. I kept thinking it wasn’t real, but the writing was extremely convincing against it. The twist saved me because I was raging at the injustice of it all. Sevro was drugged with the same substance Darrow was in book one, Cassius played the villain, and then they all struck at the opportune time.
It was also badass when Darrow pulled out The Jackals tongue. If he was willing to bomb the whole planet then how could you trust him to keep his word anyways? I’m also glad they hanged him instead of leaving him to rot somewhere to potentially return in the next books.
I’m very curious how the next three books I have play out. There’s a lot left open ended with the destruction of the class system. I definitely need a break, but I have no doubt I’ll be returning to this world in the future.
Rating: 839/1000
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