Strange & Ever After

                Hello happy readers.  Today I am excited to post this review and have finished a trilogy that I have been wanting to for a while and it is great to be able to share my thoughts on the series as a whole now.  This book is Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard.  I reviewed the first two books the last month or so, Something Strange and Deadly and A DarknessStrange and Lovely if you want to catch up.  As this is the final book there will be spoilers for the first two books, and I'll also touch on the novella A Dawn Most Wicked that falls after book one spoiler wise but takes us back to before the series starts.  So here goes.

Rating: 4 Stars

                When we left off our gang things were anything but happy.  Jie has been taken by Marcus and things are rocky between Eleanor and Daniel and Joseph given her secrets and use of magic they find unnerving. Though Joseph has come around much more than Daniel.  Oh and Oliver isn't very happy with her either given the whole killing a part of his soul thing.  Yep I can see how that would make one a bit upset.  Still they are off to find Marcus to save Jie and the world and keep him from getting his hands on the kind of power someone like him has no business with.  They travel to new places as the adventure doesn't stop.

                Like the other books the finale kept with the fast pace that I came to expect.  The story was constantly moving along right from the start Eleanor is hit with a blow.  As if she hasn't been through the ringer and taken to town.  She is in a state of shock for sure and Allison has decided she is going to tag along despite her protests.  She isn't sure of her place with anyone and is an emotional mess.  I felt for her.  I thought she made a ton of stupid decisions like more secrets but in the moment given what she was going through I could understand her hesitation.  When the world literally seems against you it's hard to trust.  Still through it all I do really enjoy how she comes to be more determined and reliant on who she is.  She is determined to be herself and not let anyone make her feel bad for it, even the boy she loves. 

                The story dove deeper into the mythology of it all and we got to travel the world.  We learned about Egyptian legends and gods.  We moved all over and even got to fly in the airship which I thought was fun I don't think I've read anything about travel like that in the past.  So many questions were answered as we moved forward and everything was wrapped up in the end.  Still where there is an evil necromancer there is going to be dead rising.  Strange and Ever After kept all the things I was intrigued by going and brought in new ideas as well.  We saw more growth with the characters we came to know and love.  I even cried at one point and I was surprised as the feels just snuck up on me out of nowhere.

                I really enjoyed the series as a whole and think it all worked out very well.  I could see things from the first book coming into play in a nice story arch and it was wonderful.  Well thought out and interesting.  I would recommend this series to anyone who was interested in a good story with fast plot and magical elements. 

                Now a quick note on the novella.  I read it after completing the series and I think that is the best time to do so.  It could be read after book one in the time line and might even adjust your views on Daniel given his past (the novella is about how him and how he, Joseph, and Jie became a team) but I think it was the perfect fit for after.  A nice look to see how they got started after seeing how things end up.  A look back.  Not necessary by any means but definitely worth the read.  That's all I have for you today. 

                Until next time…