Y’ALL!! This book… I mean… I just… The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles, #3) by Mary E. Pearson was a glorious ending to a trilogy that started off a little slow. I mean, seriously.
Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.
With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.
In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.
The Good
- Complexity – I really enjoyed that in this novel we finally get to see how much the different characters differ from one another. Everyone has their own agenda and reasons for the choices that they choose to make, and they don’t apologize for it but rather accept that. I really appreciate when books don’t show everyone being perfectly in line with one another. Life isn’t like that and I’m so glad that Pearson was able to portray that realistically.
- Character Development – The depth to these characters has far exceeded my expectations. After finishing The Kiss of Deception, I felt that this would just be another fantasy romance filled with nothing but fluff and characters with the depth of a kitchen sink, aka NONE. Alright, I’m eating crow now. Lia and Rafe have completely become their own, and even Kaden has finally shown why he is the way that he is. And Pauline! She might have grown the most out of all of them.
- Pace – Unlike the first two novels where it was just one uphill climb, The Beauty of Darkness is more like a mountain range. It feels the way a book should, with areas of intensity followed by some lulls, constantly on repeat. I appreciated that so much more because I didn’t spend the first half of the book struggling to push myself to read just to get to the good part.
- Ending – THAT is how you wrap up a series. It should be brutal, believable, with just enough feel good to leave you with a sense of fulfillment. If only The Winner’s Trilogy could have understood that…
The Bad
- The battle – As epic as it was, I was hoping for just a little bit more from it. Sometimes battle scenes in books just don’t portray the grand scope of war enough. You can say that there are 50,000 men in the army but I need you to really show me that.
For a trilogy with just an alright beginning, this story ended in such a perfect way that I almost feel bad for not enjoying it more at the start. Funny how that happens sometimes, isn’t it? Though, I have to admit that I’d rather grow to enjoy a series than start out loving it only to be disappointed later on.
Final Verdict: 5/5 Stars
What are your thoughts on this book? Do you think it was a great ending to this series? Did it not live up to your expectations? What are some series that either grew on you or ended badly?
Wonderfilled Reads 