Of Dust and Stars is the fourth and final book in The Mist King Series. I’ve loved each and every book, and each one has definitely had its own flavor. Book 4 finds a long way off from books 1 and 2! The problems are much harder to handle, the plots more dire, and the characters are going through even more horrendous times! Tessa and Kalen are just going through it, and no one else is having a considerably easy time either. This series has always had them going through a lot, but this definitely ups things. It’s a great conclusion to the series. It manages to wrap everything up well, and it manages to tie all the many strings together it had been weaving along the way! In surprising fashion!
Book 3 left us with Tessa making a vow to Andromeda to save Kalen’s life. One that left her unable to use her power against the gods, and forced to leave her mate. But their marriage bond supersedes the last part, and she’s just looking for a way to escape, as Andromeda tries to turn her to their cause. Tessa finds out bits and pieces all throughout the book about the gods true purpose, but we don’t get the full of it until the end! Kalen was left tied up by one of the gods and fed valerian so he couldn’t meet Tessa in the dream world. And their friends are split across two continents. Some waiting for them, but forced to flee when the god’s allies attack. Others across the sea, dealing with a human king who seems dedicated to prophecies and refuses to give any real information to prevent them from changing.
Tessa’s character arc is wonderful. Seeing where she ends up, with where she started, is like night and day. All of the characters here are truly wonderful, and I got attached to all of them! Tessa and Kalen’s relationship is really the core of it for me though. Their mating bond is powerful and special, just as they are. Though, they go through some issues here! With the two finding themselves at odds over some key issues. But trauma has a way of bringing people together (when they’re not dead). And this is no different. I loved their whole story from book 1 until book 4.
Kalen’s arc was so, so nice, if not bittersweet. I was happy for him, truly. But things will be so different! I suppose after the losses, I just want everyone to live all together in a group and be happy! But this is definitely the closest we would get to that, I suppose. And I was truly happy for the peace he found after all the chaos of his many years. It also sets things up so Tessa, Nellie, and Val are all left in great, and powerful, places.
The plot of the story has so many ups and downs! Every time you think something is going right, it goes wrong. Every time you think they get one up on the gods, it’s reversed or nullified somehow. This seriously played with my emotions! There were so many nail-biting moments. I was constantly on edge. It felt like anyone could die at any time. Like the world may end and that would just be it. But I loved the way the final battle turned out. It had a lot of horror leading up to it. Things definitely seemed hopeless. With our heroes outnumbered and uninformed. Still, I had faith in Tessa and Kalen to fix things and turn it around! But the battles weren’t without loss. And I definitely cried a lot reading this!
There had been so many strings being manipulated by so many people, across time and space, leading up to this moment. In many cases, the people had motivations of their own. But many just wanted to help save the world! It was seriously fascinating to see the many different ways visions and foresight were used here. On both sides of the battle. The end result was also incredible. I hadn’t foreseen that twist myself, but it totally made sense and checked out! The way others had ensured their visions would come to pass the way they wanted it was just amazing!
And it set things up for Tessa to take her ultimate role! I loved the whole thing, even the bittersweet parts! It was a fabulous journey Jenna Wolfhart took us on with this series. With incredible villains, and even more wonderful heroes. The different twists and turns within the story constantly kept me guessing, even to the very end. I could live in this world for many more books, I’m sure, but she manages to wrap this up in the perfect way. The final arc took exactly the time it needed. The situation able to be fleshed out and discovered along the way. With a conclusion that I can’t imagine left anyone unhappy!