Finishing a trilogy is always a strange feeling, but this read was so weird, I honestly don't know whether I liked this book or I didn't.
I was pretty sure that the plot would be messy, the characters would act like the messes they are and the writing would be a mess, too. I feel like the author forgot halfway through this book the point he was trying to make (if there ever was any) and he kept changing the "main evil" of the plot so many times, I don't even know what the biggest threat was supposed to be.
Sometimes it felt like he just kept adding drama to add more pages, like did we need some of these plot points for the story? Really? Did we REALLY need 750 pages to tell this simple Good Vs. Evil story? Are we SURE?
All that being said, I can't lie, after suffering through the 200 pages exposition in book 2, this one kept me entertained. Which proves once again that a thing doesn't have to be good to be entertaining. Did I think the Brighton chapters were smart and he was a well thought out villain? Absolutely not. Did I have blast making fun of him with my friends? For sure.
(I actually recommend reading this book with friends so you can complain together. It strengthens your bond. Or as Adam would say: The constellations of your friendship will shine brighter than ever.)
More things I liked: Ness (had great potential to be an interesting character; also only character that gets things done). Senator Iron being a Scooby Doo villain (I'm not sure if this was intentional, but he's hilarious. At one point he acted like a cleaning lady to spy on the main characters). Chapter 49 (no explanation needed).
I wish I could think of more, because again, I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would, but it was also. Not good. So: The things that made me put down the book and sigh very loudly (in no particular order).
1. Fist-Bump-and-Whistle: Do I have to say more? The "fist bump and whistle" thing ist just. Coming back. Again. And Again. There is a scene where Emil tries to solve their relationship issues with. You guessed it.
2. The Love Triangle: This is one of the worst love triangles I ever encountered, and I was a teenager who read YA in 2014. Emil never even considers how the other two might feel; he just makes out with everything that moves. And they throw around the word "love" as if they've known each other for more than 2 weeks. Emil and Ness have less screen time than Emil and his mom in this entire trilogy. I just don't buy the "deep feeling" these three are supposed to have for each other.
3. Female Characters: I could write a really long rant about female characters and female representation in this series, but I don't think anyone would be interested in that. Maribelle as the token female PoV character has really absolutely no point in the story, she doesn't even interact with our other main characters. If you cut her + the whole Resurrection-Plot; it wouldn't matter. The other female characters are all described as strong and powerful - and I seriously think the author's heart is in the right place - but they never do anything but be strong and powerful in the background. Prudencia is always THERE, but you forget sometimes that she is, because. She isn't needed. Which leads me to -
4. NPC Side Characters: All the Side Characters have almost no personality and are only here to a) save the MCs or b) die. The author adds multiple new side characters just to kill them off. It's ridiculous.
5. Wyatt: Just wanted to complain about the sentences the author puts in the mouth of this young adult in a world where the internet exist. Seriously, he speaks like an old wizard I would make up for a D&D campaign. Here are my two favorite examples: "Be the Skybreaker you are and embrace the scattered scars in their disarray." & "My bones ache when it rains. It is most unfortunate."
6. Brighton: Is a character a good villain when he's just evil? And that's his whole thing? Being evil, but not believing he's evil? He literally thinks "I am going to rip their hearts out!" at least once every chapter.
7. Resurrection-Plot: It was just pointless. Just here to give Maribelle stuff to do, but in the grand scheme of the plot, nothing really happens. There's this big mystery why Maribelle's ancestors never actually used the Resurrection-Ritual and we never find out. Absolute waste of time.
8. Adults not adulting: All the adults in this series are really terrible. Emil's mother is constantly crying. There is a father who just lets his 14-year-old fight villains. The politicans fight literal 18-year-olds.
9. Repetition: So, I sometimes got the feeling the author thinks his readers are like. Really stupid. Because he just keeps repeating some exposition to a point where I wanted to throw a punch. Did you know Ness' mother died? And also Brighton really likes ripping hearts out. And Emil is in love with two people, oh no!
10. Good Vs. Evil: Last one, I swear. But this is the one that bothered me the most.
So, obviously, this is a classic tale of the heroes vs. the villains. Evil Senator Iron vs. Good Nicolette Sunstar. Evil Brighton vs. Good Emil.
But, here's the thing. The "heroes" do as much damage as the villains. It's actually funny how hypocritical this book gets. Maribelle murders to get back the love of her life, Atlas. Good! Brighton murders to get back his parents. Evil! Luna murders to get back her sister. Evil! It's really evil when Brighton threatens Lore, but it's fine when the Spell Walkers torture someone. And every time they steal from someone, it's from an "evil Iron supporter", but honestly, I would support Edward Iron, too, if the "good guys" kept stealing my stuff and destroying my houses!
This Black/White; Hero/Villain; Good/Evil is a lense the author uses throughout the whole book, using it to justify crimes done by the heroes and to condemn crimes done by the villains. Which is a very simple way to look at the scenarios the characters go through, that is not only boring, but also makes absolutely no sense in a story about redemption.
Somewhere in this mess is definetly a book about corruption, the evilness that everyone is capable of under the right circumstances and the reality of a world where nothing is truly evil/good.
But this wasn't it.