What a great ending to this series.
Endings are so tough. A bad ending can deflate the whole experience of a narrative. A good ending ties everything together, and nothing can beat that feeling of satisfaction you get as all the threads are tied up, secrets revealed, and connections made.
Also, though, this was brutal. I’m not saying I haven’t read books that aren’t more of a bloodbath than this one is, because I have, but the body count is large, and people you love will die. Horribly.
I cried, like, four times while reading this. (I didn’t get to the sobbing stage, but there was actual fluid leaking out of my tear ducts. Emooootions.)
Even the artwork, which I didn’t love at the beginning, grew on me. Actually, I’m pretty sure it evolved over the course of the run, because by the end I’m 99% positive that Tyler’s facial features migrated from the center of his head out towards the rest of it, so that he no longer resembled a beachball with a face drawn on. And some of it was breathtaking (and brutal).
Highly recommend this series if you like fantasy, dark fantasy, or horror. (I would also recommend reading the whole thing all in one go, if possible. This is a series that rewards attention to detail, and because I read two at a time, sometimes months apart, occasionally I had to strain to remember things, and I know I missed some things I probably shouldn’t have.)
And now, I can finally listen to that full cast audio production they released on Audible last year. WOOOO.
[4.5 stars]