Book Review: Warrior Witch (The Malediction Trilogy #3)

Release Date: May 3, 2016
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Publisher: Angry Robot
Length: 384 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

The thrilling conclusion to the breakout Malediction Trilogy by Goodreads Choice finalist Danielle L. Jensen.

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil they have unleashed upon the world.

As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything. And everyone.

But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

    

Review:

Protagonists: As with many final books in series, our heroes have come a long way and grown a lot since the beginning of the first installment. Céline is now a fairly powerful witch who's not afraid to enter into the line of fire to save her race and those she loves. Tristan is no longer the pompous and self-loathing troll he once was and is now a thoughtful and wise leader who will also do what he must to protect humans and those who stand with him. Throughout this book there's still quite a bit of growth left for them to go through as they fight off threats from multiple fronts and try to hold on to hope even when all may seem futile. I have to say that while I liked these characters in the first book, as the series went on I really grew to love them, they're flawed and damaged in places but they learn to over come or subvert those flaws in the pursue of the greater good.

Romance: Since this is the last book in the trilogy there isn't all that much romance, or I should say that with no apparent threats keeping them apart there isn't all that much to the romance. While there is a bot of romantic drama here and there, there isn't all that much to tell. In this book Céline and Tristan have to make some tough choices and hard sacrifices, not only as it pertains to the people they are trying to protect, but as it pertains to their marriage. That being said though, even though the romance is a much smaller sub-plot than it has been in this series, it's still very interesting to me and I'm still heavily invested in it. Plus, since there's less of a focus on romance there's more of a focus on the kick-ass plot and world-building.

World-Building: This book picks up pretty much right after the previous one. The barrier keeping trolls in has been broken, The Winter Queen has sent her message, and now Tristan, Céline, and their friends need to go to war to help protect the humans on the Isle of Light from the trolls that would see harm and enslavement come to them. Pretty much the entirely of this book is about the war that began at the end of Hidden Huntress. Though it's not really a focal point, we do learn more about Arcadia and the Fae that live there. Tristan and Cécile both have debts to the Winter and Summer rulers respectively, and since this is the final book in this series you bet that the complications surrounding those debts come up in a big way and cause unforeseen consequences.

Predictability: So if I had to pick a book in this series that's the least predictable it'd probably be this one. On the whole the bigger vague questions as to where this series will end I, for the most part guessed, but as always it's those smaller and more specific details that are the real surprises in books. For instance, it's been proven that this author isn't afraid to kill of characters, even those that may seem important to the story, so logically I assumed that at least one character would die, but it's who that death belongs to, and mild spoiler alert: more than one person dies, that's the real surprise. The foreshadowing for this book, nay this series, is fantastic. There's never too much to clue you in to those larger plot twists, but at the same time, once they happen it's not to hard to see the little seeds that lead up to that particular twist.

Ending: So as this book and series was drawing to a close, part of me felt like, somewhere in the back of my mind, that this series might not truly be the end. That maybe this author has a spin-off series in mind. As everything lead up to that final climax I still thought that maybe there was possibly another story left to tell in this world. The grand finale of this book was spectacular. Thing definitely didn't quite go the way I was expecting them to, and in the end I felt as though that last final climax was the perfect way to end the conflict for this series, and then came the most emotional, for lack of a more descriptive term, epilogue I've ever read. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that my thoughts that there may be more left to discover in this world, is most likely wrong (I'll give it 98% because I'm sure if the author wanted to she could probably come up with another story in this world, even if it didn't feature any of these characters.) The ending of this book and series very much ties up all loose ends. And so this epic tale comes to a close.

Rating:

While I cannot speak for anyone else's opinions, mine is that this was the perfect ending to this series. For me there are no more lingering questions and I'm excited to see what comes next from this phenomenal author!

Book Review: Hidden Huntress (The Malediction Trilogy #2)

Release Date: June 2, 2015
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Publisher: Angry Robot
Length: 464 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

Sometimes, one must accomplish the impossible.

Beneath the mountain, the king’s reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cécile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king’s power. Or his manipulation.

Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.

To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cécile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted…

    

Review:

Protagonists: After being separated Cécile and Tristan try and so whatever they can to be reunited. Cecile is in Trianon, where she works tirelessly to try and find the witch Anushka so that the curse on the trolls can be lifted and that she can find her way back to her husband. Tristan on the other hand is dealing with all of the fallout of the previous installment, the betrayal of not only his father, but of his supporters has put him in a tough and humble place that he needs to dig himself out of if he's ever going to make Trollus a safe and equal place. I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed Tristan's arc in this book. He does start out every bit the self-loathing troll I hated in the first book, though a bit more tolerable, however his growth into a much more focused and wise character was very much appreciated and made me really connect with him in a way that I never did in the first book. Cécile's development is very closely tied with her desire to free the trolls, namely does she want to risk unleashing them all, or is she letting her feelings for Tristan and her friends believe that breaking the curse is worth the consequences. While I also enjoyed seeing this development and seeing her really put thought into her decision, I have to say that in my book it paled in comparison to the development of Tristan.

Romance: Okay so there isn't all that much I can say about this without giving away spoilers. I will say a few things though. There is a bit of romance in this book, and yes it's between Tristan and Cécile, who else? I won't say on what grounds it occurs, however I will say that I've really come to love this couple. First off while they do have their issues like any normal couple would, it doesn't take them too long to resolve them, at least not in this installment. Secondly, they just balance each other out so well. Tristan is a pragmatic and thoughtful character, whereas Cécile likes to dive in regardless of the consequences and ask questions later. As the story develops you can really see their influence on each other, Tristan will strike while the iron's hot and Cécile will carefully consider what she's doing. Their romance is so well crafted and despite what other characters might thing *cough* Sabine *cough* I think they're perfect for each other.

World-Building: So in this installment we get out first real look at the Isle of Light. In the previous installment Cécile wasn't above ground long enough for us to really get a sense for what the Isle is like, but in this book, Cécile spends most of her time around humans and interacts and partakes in the politics of Trianon society. In addition to learning more about the world, we also learn more about their denizens, such as Cécile's mother who's cold, calculating, and very strict, but seems to love Cécile in her own twisted way. We also learn more about human magic and witches and just what their powers can do. What I found most interesting was the political intrigue woven throughout this tale and how wrapped up the human politics are with the troll ones, for better or worse. P.S. this book did what I thought was impossible it made me really like the character of Chris.

Predictability: So the central mystery of this book is both who Anushka is, and how she's been able to survive for so many years. The first of these mysteries, believe it or not, I actually figured out in the first installment, I don't know what drove me to predict it, but it just sort of clicked, the fun for me in this installment was picking up on all the foreshadowing and figuring out her secret to immortality, which surprisingly enough also clicked without much proof one way or the other. However regardless of if you figure it out or not, I'm sure you'll still enjoy watching everything unfold. The foreshadowing is fairly subtle and vague so it doesn't really beat you over the head with the answer or anything, in fact there were a few times when I doubted my hypotheses.

Ending: Wow, there was a lot packed into this ending. There was a lot of tension as the final climax started. In it there was a lot that was revealed to the reader, some hard truths from the past that were still relevant in the present. As the climax came to a close, I wasn't sure what out heroes would do, but then it happened and before any real sort of cool down period could emerge things picked up again and left the story with one doozy of a cliffhanger. Once again I'm happy I chose to wait to read these book because if the cliffhanger at the end of the first book didn't do me in, the one at the end of this book would have.

Rating:

After finishing this book I wasn't quite sure on the rating, but as I wrote the review I knew that this book rightly deserves five huge stars. This book is everything I wanted and more, I can't wait to see how this author will conclude this, so far amazing, trilogy!

Book Review: Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy #1)

Release Date: April 1, 2014
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Publisher: Strange Chemistry/Angry Robot
Length: 469 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realises that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time…

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for...

    

Review:

Protagonist: Cécile grew up the daughter of a farmer, but was trained and tutored in the art of singing, knowing that one day she'd go off to live with her mother and make a career out of her talent. On the very day she is to be sent off she is taken captive and sold to the trolls beneath the mountain. Very few know about the trolls and no one who's seen them have ever spoken of them. Now Cécile knows just how real they are. Cécile starts off scared but stubborn as she's thrown into a life she never wanted, however over the course of the book she grows and changes, realizing that not all trolls are the monsters that legends have led her to believe. Many simply want to be free and to live a life they see fit. I really liked Cécile, she doesn't start off as a bad-ass heroine kicking ass and taking names, but it easy to see as she develops that she has that potential, but even if she didn't she's still a very strong and admirable female protagonist.

Romance: So due to some unintentional vibes the romance is very hard to discern at first. There are two possible candidates, however there's never a love triangle, it's just that at first it's not clear who the love interest is. Even then there it was quite a while before I felt comfortable that the author wasn't going to turn the compelling one on one romance into a love triangle. That being said for the most part I loved the romance between Cécile and Tristan. The chase and will they/won't they aspect of the relationship was the best. It was fairly slow moving and reminded me in many ways of Beauty and the Beast, however once the romance really got started, Tristan's self-loathing troll side comes out and it's not pretty. Things do get smoothed over, for better or worse, but it just got too Twilighty there for a minute.

World-Building: So going into this all I knew was that it was a fantasy about trapped trolls stealing away a girl with the talent to sing. However it is far more complex than that. This book contains a lot of political intrigue and there's a rebellion brewing that Cécile finds herself at the center of. Over the course of this book we learn a lot about the trolls, troll culture, and about the original spell that trapped them in the mountain in the first place. There's still a lot left unexplored and many things were set up to hopefully explore in further novels. I have to say I didn't expect much in the way of world-building when it came to this book, but as this story progresses this world grows immensely and I'm very eager to see how it grows in future installments.

Predictability: There was a lot to this book that I wasn't expecting, going into it I wasn't quite sure what would happen and like I mentioned above, when it came to the romance I feel like there was some unintentional foreshadowing going on. In fact there were some more similar misdirects, and some things that I thought we would discover left undiscovered. There were of course small moments that I could see coming but they were few and far between. On the whole though I liked seeing where this story would go and I enjoyed the feeling of not knowing what to expect and feeling as though anything can happen.

Ending: So as I was getting closer to the end and things were getting more and more intense I was waiting for what I call the final climax, usually a battle or struggle of some sort, and there was one, in fact depending on how you look at it there was more than one. Usually the final climax isn't very long, but it's not exactly short either, but this story felt like it had a few smaller climaxes at the end, while still keeping the tension high between each. The last of these was very intense and is sure to breed many consequences. The cool down was handled very well. While it wasn't something I expected, where things ended up by the end didn't necessarily surprise me. The very end has a bit of a cliffhanger, and while it's not too bad of one, I'm kind of happy I waited to read this one as the wait might have killed me.

Rating:

So the rating for this book was a bit of a no brainer for me. I love this book and this world the author has created. My only complaint is the self-loathing love interest, which created quite a bit of annoying drama, but even then it wasn't anywhere close to a deal breaker, especially when compared to the rest of the book!