Mirjana **DTR - Down to Read**'s Reviews > Shadow & Storms

***3.75 Stars***

Top 5 things that bum me out as a reader is an underwhelming finale to a series. While I did enjoy this, I feel like there was some pacing issues and too many scenes that felt like filler.

I think books 3 & 4 could have been combined and the plot tightened up with a critical eye to focusing on what really matters in the moment and where the greatest stakes are.

This book has some twists and turns, some I liked and some I didn't, and what could have been a monumental moment that was building over the course of the series ended up being a reveal that fizzled within a couple of paragraphs. (view spoiler)[ I wanted Audra's entrance with the women warriors to be grand and epic! I wanted them to have ample screen time to show their badassery and why Thea admired them so much. Instead it was a build up, they arrived, a paragraph of "they kicked ass" and they were gone. (hide spoiler)] Such a missed opportunity!

But at the end of the day, I enjoyed this ride. Helen Scheuerer nailed it when it comes to creating an ensemble of characters that you get invested in and care about. I'm all about an amazing found family.

And the little seeds that were planted about where the spin-off series is going . . . .