A perfect ending to a fantastic series. I'm going to miss it...

Also. Winter & Jacin > everyone else. I freaking love them.

Winter's story also has the most clever parallels to her fairytale as well (in my humble opinion). Cinder is a close second, but I think Winter's story is a lot more exciting.

The revolution is a bit challenging, as it (understandably) has to wrap up every bit of convoluted plot line and can be a bit anxiety-inducing. Sometimes you genuinely feel that the characters are about to die and/or lose.

The last chapters are done in the way of the movie version of the Return of the King - where we get to see each person's ending. It is a bit saccharine, but in the perfect way that modern fairy tales are.

I was glad to see Cress & Thorne finally be solid. It was frustrating to read their back-and-forth in book 3, but there are some PERFECTLY written scenes between the two of them in this one. Also, can I just say that I love the mild allusion to other versions of Rapunzel? Like how Thorne stabs Cress in the side just like Mother Gothel stabs Flynn in Tangled?

I did struggle a bit when it was revealed that Levana has a disfigured face. Mostly because I don't understand how cyborgs are a reality but plastic surgery isn't? But more than that, it seemed like a weak/frustrating plot device, one that goes against the whole idea of Snow White (that the Evil Queen *is* in fact gorgeous on the outside, but can't understand that her *heart* is ugly). Still not anything worth docking stars for.

Seriously. So. Good.

I don't factor audiobook narrators' performances into my overall star rating, but I would give Rebecca Soler a 4/5 for this one. As previously stated in my other reviews of books 1-3, I got used to her slightly different voices and grew to appreciate them, especially certain characters. There were still some pieces that should have been re-recorded due to minor errors, but again, that feels like it should be on whoever did the mixing and production. But the one thing that really made me dock that extra half star compared to last time, was Winter's voice. She is voiced like a baby, and it was grating on my ears. I also don't appreciate the infantilization of a character who is 17 with a love interest who is 19. It just feels icky. I think she could have come across as "crazy" yet "alluring" and "innocent" without being voiced as a child.

This is the first book I’ve read that had me audibly screaming. For a good reason, though. It was long, but fast paced so I didn’t mind. The ending was nice and I’m glad I’m not done with series. (I still have Fairest, Stars Above and Wires and Nerve) The friendships and relationships mattered a lot more to me than the actual battles if I’m honest. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more invested in a friend group.

TLDR; 3.5 rating, killed by the power of ugly (apparently), and just a lukewarm end to something that started off really well.
Content warnings at the bottom. :)

Listen, Levana was wrong. She was bad, she killed LOTS of people, and she deserved retribution, but the way they defeated her was just horrible. So she

has burns, because Cinder’s mom pushed her into a fireplace, but we’re supposed to believe that

we’re allowed to throw Levana’s looks in her face, and ultimately kill her, but Cinder should be celebrated for overcoming the same injuries?

What the fuck? Very double standards, I hate it a lot. I’m not saying they should have given Levana grace, but the way she went out defeats the whole characterization of everyone.

This book is also like 200 pages too long. The rest of them just kept running and hiding and separating and it kept happening. Twice is redundant, three times is annoying, and four times is fucking ridiculous. Talk about tedium. 

And somehow, even with the book being too long, Winter and Jacin’s relationship was too rushed. How can a book be too long and have the main romance be so quick? Yadda yadda, that’s how. Those 200 pages of the same shit could’ve been dedicated to building Winter and Jacin’s relationship. 

The one thing that we had a decent time of was the setting, at least. Meyer did a grand job describing the moon and its colonies, which…if you could do it well in this book why didn’t you in literally all the other books? Ugh. 

Rating: 3.5
Would I recommend? Not really, unless you enjoy hypocrisy, 16yo moon queens, and long drawn out action sequences.

Content warnings: Genocide, Medical content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Classism, Car accident, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, War, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, and Pandemic/Epidemic

I don’t even know where to start with how amazing this series has been. I was so invested in the characters throughout the entire book. This set of characters will definitely stick with me for a long, long time. I normally am not able to finish books as long as this one without being bored but I never got into a slump. I’m very satisfied with the way Meyer ended everyone’s stories, and I’m beyond excited to read the collection of novellas.