Nightblood

NIGHTBLOOD (Frostblood Saga #3)

Written by Elly Blake

Published by Little Brown, August 21, 2018

My star rating: 5 stars

THE SYNOPSIS:

Ruby’s world has changed more than she ever could have imagined. She’s in love with a powerful Frost King. She’s the heir to the Fire Throne. And she may be a Nightblood–the spawn of a vengeful deity hellbent on releasing his wraithlike Minax from their prison. Once freed, these beasts will roam the earth, devouring every last person until he or she is nothing but an empty husk. But Ruby is able to control the Minax to a degree, and now she, her beloved Arcus, and her friend Kai must find a way to bring Frostbloods and Firebloods–sworn enemies–together to make a stand against a foe more deadly than any they’ve faced. In this heart-pounding finale of Elly Blake’s gorgeously written and action-packed Frostblood Saga, the fate of Frostbloods, Firebloods, and all of humanity is at stake. Find it on Goodreads

MY REVIEW:

Wow! This was a solid completion to a series! In fact, this might have been the strongest book of the series! It seemed to take all of my favourite elements that were presented in books 1 and 2 and elevated them to form this amazing conclusion. Please remember that this is book 3 in a series. I won’t be spoiling this book, but you may be spoiled for books 1 and 2. You’ve been warned!

The first thing I need to mention is the character ARC of our main character Ruby. In book one we meet a girl, lost and afraid, possessing powers that could get her killed, and a temper with a very short fuse. She was feisty, yes, but she lacked control. She was unsure of herself after spending so many years trying to hide who she was. She was strong, but didn’t have faith in her direction. Book two we see another side of her. She’s finally allowed to be who she is and start to be proud of her powers. We follow her as her confidence gains and her powers grow. She was finally presented with the opportunity to be the best person she could be but, most of all, gain her independence. And then in this book, I feel like she’s finally herself! She oozes confidence, proves her intelligence, controlled her temper, and made decisions for herself. Her decisions weren’t selfish, but they were finally to think of herself and her happiness. Her character ARC along this journey was absolutely fantastic to follow! But in this book, we are also faced with the complication of the Minax inside of her. We know that she’s able to control it but, as the story goes along, we wonder just how much influence it has on her. This was SO well done!

And then there’s the folklore. I am an absolute sucker for a folklore tale and the atmosphere it creates. That was one of my favourite elements in book two but it becomes a very integral part of this book. When a folklore tale basically comes to life and you need to reflect on the things you thought were only a story as a child….. magic! In this case we get a sort of a creation story combined with a rebellion. There were quite a few different elements to this and I loved every minute of it!

The romance in this series was fantastic. It was very realistic which made me love it even more. Sometimes relationships in books are all sunshine and rainbows. They immediately become obsessed with each other and so begins this honeymoon phase where neither person can do any wrong. NOT the case here! This relationship was far from easy. Both people made mistakes – and a lot of them. It was their reactions to those mistakes that made me love them even more. They expressed their anger, their fear, their confusion, their passion. They actually did this weird thing called ‘communication’ that we rarely see in books! They talked about things when it happened and didn’t just stay quiet and let the situation blow up in their faces. There wasn’t full disclosure sometimes, but still, they talked!! Thank you Elly for making a relationship that real!! There is still a certain Prince who just so happens to be my favourite in the series though…… Kai is my heart lol! I need so much more of him!!

Another thing that I will say was a favourite – the way the action scenes are written. I noticed that when Ruby is in the arena in book one, I held onto every word of that scene. Her skill in writing a vivid and compelling action scene is outstanding! You know how you get to an action scene sometimes and you read it quickly because the step by step account is boring, or it’s just confusing and you can’t picture it in your mind? Not the case with this series. The action scenes are so fluid and descriptive. It’s so easy to play it out in your mind and the scenes stick with me forever!

All in all, this was an incredibly strong ending to a trilogy! In fact, with each book, I grew more and more attached to the characters and the world. I can’t wait to see what Elly comes up with next!

Until next time, happy reading!