Not even close to as good as I hoped this would be.
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Date of Publication: March 29, 2016
War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.
At least, that’s what he thinks.
In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.
But no one gets what they want just by wishing.
As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?
Le great conclusion. No. I liked both the beginning and the end of this book. Sadly, these parts seemed very short due to the extremely fast pacing. I love a fast-paced book! The middle section just ruined it for me, due to the lack of fast-pacing. I gave this book 3.5/5 stars because of this pacing. Twirling Pages explains this really well in her review.
I love the characters and how this whole series is like a game of chess (or Bite and Sting) where each character ponders for a long time on what they will do and make a logical decision to attempt to defeat their enemy. This is one those books that I enjoy once I really think about it, less so when I’m actually reading it (those I prefer better than these).
If you liked the other two books in the series, you will love this one! I didn’t like them very much, but this was most certainly the best one out of the trilogy!
Spoiler Section Ahead!
Bringing down that emperor. Woah. Highlight of this whole book. I was like: KESTREL JUST FREAKING STAB HIM IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS GAME. But the shock he displayed when he realized the tile was poisoned was worth it. Arin should have just slaughtered Kestrel’s dad slowly once he found him. COME ON WE’VE BEEN WAITING A WHOLE FREAKING BOOK FOR THIS.
I feel like the beginning where Kestrel was in the camp was interesting, also. But then after, NOTHING HAPPENS. I can’t express this enough. It’s just pages filled with meaningless words. It literally took me a week to get through this boring book, since I just didn’t want to read it that much.
Thanks for reading! Remember my Goodreads is thebookllama_hannah and my Instagram is@thebookllama!
What did you guys think of this book?
The Book Llama 
That’s disappointing. I just bought the first book the other day because everyone said how great the series was.
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Oh! You should read it because most everyone LOVES them, I’m just one of the rare ones who doesn’t! You should definitely give it a try!!! 👍🏻
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Alright, I will and let you know how it goes!
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😊😊
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I was thoroughly disappointed in this book. I think I was one of the few who didn’t like it. Such a let down in my opinion. The first two were fantastic and I think the war in this one overshadowed everything else. And I even found Arin annoying.
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You’re one of the ones like me! I’m not alone in my unpopular opinion! Yay! Thank you! 😉😉
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Anytime! 😀 The whole time I was reading I was like come onnnnnnn! You have to be better than this. The reviews all said you were fantastic. And then I finished and I was like well that was not what I expected. lol.
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OMG that was exactly my thought process! 😂🤓😃
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