Wow! I love Kate and Curran! The last 100 pages of this flew and I couldn't put it down. There's always something happening, some new magic and this brought in old story arcs as well. When is the next one out???

Still somehow having fun on this lengthy ride!

6th read: Every new read of this book makes me love it more. It's a severely underrated book in the series BY ME and when I listen to it again I remember that this is where we genuinely shifted to Roland as the Big Bad Final Boss and it's the first act in an incredible, show-stopping ending arc to the main series.

2nd read, 11/2/19: I'm honestly not sure why I gave this 4.5 stars because it made me cry AGAIN, but I think it might be that it sped up at some parts it shouldn't have and felt too slow at others. Listening to it made me appreciate those little moments more, so I'm going to bump it up to 5 stars and forgive the slow moments and plot holes.

1st read, 2/21/17: Yet another magical installment from the Ilona Andrews team. I really feel like they're channeling kids 1 and 2 in Julie's snarky comments, but also some parental conversations with each interaction with Roland. It's that real world interactions many who read these books can relate to and what really makes this story come to life. There are some things that made this less than perfect, and quotes that made it the funniest thing ever, but most of all, I am SUPER PUMPED for the books that come next. (And for the filling in of some plot holes...)

Probably my least favorite of the series, but this series is getting me through quarantine.

Spoiler

I didn't like the whole stroke storyline. It just felt random, but I guess it was to show the vulnerabilities of Kate's power/blood. The villain was meh, but I know why they had to have it. It now opens new possibilities for Kate instead of the currently hopeless situation she's in.

Kate and Curran and their crew start on a new life and a new set of adventures! I really, really enjoy seeing both Kate and Curran grow and continue to develop as people and as a couple!

I didn’t connect to the action in this one as much, it took me a while to get through, but I was definitely hit in the face by Kate/Curran feelings at the end when they were fighting the ifrit. Though if I were George and Eduardo I would kick Curran’s ass for proposing (again!) at their wedding, ex-Beast Lord or not.

The series is still good. I'm not a huge fan of the Big Bad trope, but it wasn't too bad. Still like pretty much everyone in these books. I mean, really. It's book 8; to lose me they'd have to pull some [a:Mike Shepherd|74519|Mike Shepherd|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1266776056p2/74519.jpg] crap. (Juggle those elbows!!) Fortunately, they do not.

More of a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Such a fun (gory) series. The scene at Applebee’s was too surreal.