The Blue Woods

Twin Willows Trilogy #3

by Nicole Maggi

The Night Battles ascend in THE BLUE WOODS, the exhilarating conclusion to the Twin Willows Trilogy

Sixteen-year-old Alessia Jacobs wants to go to college someday like her friends. She wishes for a chance at a normal relationship with Jonah. But normal is never an option for a Benandante like Alessia, who has sworn to protect the magic in the world from the Malandanti . . . especially when Jonah is on the opposite side of the deadly struggle. When the war comes to a head, lives will be lost, love will be gained, and Alessia will risk everything to save the people she loves and destroy the Malandanti once and for all.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2016

About the author

Nicole was born in the suburban farm country of upstate New York, and began writing at a very early age. Of course, her early works consisted mainly of poems about rainbows and unicorns, although one of them was good enough to win honorable mention in a national poetry contest! (Perhaps one of the judges was a ten-year-old girl.) Throughout high school, her creative writing was always nurtured and encouraged.

Nicole attended Emerson College as an acting major, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Post-college, she worked as an actress in New York City for over a decade, focusing mainly on Shakespeare and the classics.

Now living in Los Angeles, Nicole balances writing full-time with motherhood. WINTER FALLS, the first in her TWIN WILLOWS TRILOGY (Medallion Press, 2014) is her debut novel. She has a stand-alone novel, HEARTLINES, coming out in February 2015 with SourceBooks Fire, as well as the second and third novels in the TWIN WILLOWS TRILOGY in 2015 and 2016.

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Whoa. That was a lot of emotions packed into one novel. That was... Whoa

Honestly can I just go on record that the Twin Willows Trilogy joins my top favorite books of all time. Like this trilogy was ready to go full force into the feels, and it did.

Nicole Maggi continued using a split POV between Allesia and Bree, and can I just say how nice it is to read a split point of view book that A) doesn't try to go to EVERY character. And B) doesn't use the two love interests as POVs. I found this far more enjoyable that the main characters developed their own powerful friendly bond while growing relationships with other characters. And honestly Bree + Cal and Allesia + Jonah are such amazing ships nobody can convince me they don't meet every Saturday and double date XD

This book started right where the last one left off, which was extremely important, and immediately went into a feels frenzy. That frenzy never stopped. I swear this book was one of the few books ever to make me get feels like I did in Mockingjay (which is to say I was an emotional wreck) but seriously, I'm attached to these characters and they're amazing and it was just a spectacular story omg.


I am extremely sad my time visiting Twin Willows is over, but I do intend to revisit it. Perhaps someday Nicole Maggi will wake up inspired and write a novella, prequel series, sequel series, or a midquel from Cal/Jonah/Heath's POVs. I am perfectly allowed to hope! :)

I recommend this amazing book series to everyone. It was so spectacular and amazing I can't even describe to you how much I loved it. It has so many feels, and it was beautiful all the way through. I hope you guys get the opportunity to read this book series, because it is spectacular. Because then, you'll be traveling through the town of Twin Willows. Visit the farm on the edge of the forest. Perhaps even the Waterfall beyond that. There are many animals that you will come across, but when you see the snow colored falcon, you'll start your own adventure in Twin Willows.

[Stephanie Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

'The Blue Woods' is the third and final book in an exciting young adult paranormal trilogy that continues to follow our heroine, Alessia, as she tries to live a normal life in her small town of Willow Falls, Maine. All she wants is to go to college and have a normal romantic relationship with Jonah. But nothing about Alessia and her life is normal since she discovered her true identity as a Benandante - a shapeshifter sworn to protect magic from the evil Malandanti. There's a war between the two groups brewing and Alessia will be forced to risk everything to save the ones she loves and to finally destroy the Malandanti for good.

This being the final book of the trilogy, I was excited to see what was going to happen and how it all would end. I continued to love learning any little thing I could about the Benandanti and the Malandanti. The details and descriptions about both groups - their histories, the war between them, the magic that they're fighting over - were still really fascinating for me. Alessia continued to be a great main character for the series. She's smart, strong, down to earth, and determined. Since the day she realized who and what she is - and what's happening in the world - she's been faced with making some incredibly difficult decisions - which I thought she did with a lot of maturity. Of course, I loved watching Alessia and Jonah together and seeing their relationship change and grow throughout the book (and the entire series). The story was written in a steady pace - not too fast to confuse the reader, and not too slow to make it boring either. The writing was well done and I found myself easily sliding back into the world the author created. Overall, I think this was a good final book in a fascinating YA trilogy that gave some fresh air to the genre. Recommended to fans of YA fantasy as well as those who enjoy shapeshifter and paranormal fiction.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[☆☆Hannah☆☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad conclusion. However, it was one of those books that really should have been shorter. I feel like there just wasn't a lot going on throughout. The good news is that Alessia and her friends were able to beat the evil guys. Her and Jonah did get to be together in the end. Another plus to this was that there wasn't too many people who died on the good side. The most important thing was that in the end Alessia got to live the normal life that she had always wanted.

[Dorine White · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Story-
Alessia is a Benandante, a human who takes on an animal spirit and fights for goodness and balance. Her enemy, the Malandanti, have invaded her town and have captured the sacred site that her people protect. Now their is a battle erupting that involves sacred sites all over the world and the fate of humanity is at stake.

Making things worse its that Alessia's boyfriend, Jonah, was tricked into becoming a Maladanti, and now she must fight him to remain true to her clan. Her search to find away to switch him to a Benadante have paid off, put the price is too high and can not be paid.

My Thoughts-
I have enjoyed this trilogy. It is fresh and full of angst. Alessia and Jonah's relationship is a drawing factor, and as they try to help each other while hiding the truth from their clans, the tension rises.

Another interesting factor involves meeting Benandante from around the world. It was nice to see outside the circle that is Twin Willows and see exactly how the rest of the world is protected and learn about other sacred sites and their powers.

My favorite character in this book is actually Bree, Jonah's sister. She has slowly been emerging as a mage, but in this last book she hits her full power and we really get a good look inside the girl that started off as a stuck up shrew. Her change is beautiful and some of the choices she is faced with in this book really show her new character traits.

I loved the ending and thought the author wrapped things up well. This trio is worth the read- 5 stars!

[Justkeepreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win a review copy of this book on Librarything. I love to read anything supernatural and this book was completely different to anything I had ever read before. This is the third instalment of the Twin Willows trilogy. The story is about a sixteen year old benandante called Alessia Jacobs who has been sworn to protect the magical world from the evil clan called Malandanti. Although things are not that simple for Alessia as she has fallen head over heels for a member of the Malandanti called Jonah. It is against all the rules for them to be together. But Alessia cannot deny the strong soulmate connect she feels with Jonah. A huge battle is fought, and Alessia fights to rid the world of the Malandanti will Alessia ever be able to be with her true love?
As soon as you start reading this book you are thrown straight into the action, and this pace s kept up throughout the whole book. The book is fast paced leaving the reader gripped throughout the whole story. I think that the characters were really easy to connect to and I'm a sucker for a love story with a twist. I think this book is good and if you like supernatural books that are a little different then all the rest, and you like your action stories jam packed then I think this book is for you.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to at least give three stars since I did read all three books & they kept me entertained. The series is really better suited to teens, so it's my fault for reading a YA genre.

[Greyland Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

There were some surprise that I did and didn't expect. But overall a good wrap up for this trilogy.

[Maci · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Blue Woods is the final book in the Twin Willows series by Nicole Maggi. I really enjoyed the series and am sad that it is over. I liked this book much better then the second book. This book is the culmination of the fight between the Benandante and the Maladanti, where after centuries it seems like the fight might be coming to a close. Bree, Alessia, and Jonah have to fight for what they believe more then ever. And everyone has to be ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for what they choose. This was a good conclusion to the series and I was happy with where all the characters ended up. The romance was not as much of the plot as it was in the second book (which for me got in the way) so I liked this one a lot better. I would recommend this book if you like folklore and romance.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a series I enjoyed way WAY more than I ever expected to. I think Bree Wolfe is one of my favorite female characters in recent memory, and even though I called which key character would die back in the last book, it still hit me like a truck. I also appreciated the strong friendships that were built over the course of the trilogy, when the first book left me really wanting more and feeling like this would end up lacking and shallow.

A very solid, fun, enjoyable series. I'll miss it.

[Liz Calderone · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2

[Liz Donatelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggi has crafted a superb and throughly satisfying ending to the Twin Willows Trilogy. A captivating novel with a host of characters, especially Bree, who I will genuinely miss.

[Siska · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3 <3 <3 <3 So good, grabbed you so much you never wanted to stop reading. <3 <3 <3 <3

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the predictable "good prevails over evil" ending, the story is really well written. *weren't sure the Benandante would win? the title is "the blue woods" just like the aura of the Benandante.

[Helen Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful conclusion to the trilogy.

[Caylen Smith]

asdkjsad heath deserves better b+