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A Ruinous Fate #3
A Raging Heart
In this stunning conclusion to the Ruinous Fate trilogy, romance, magic, and destiny abound as Calla and her friends face their ultimate test: The Fates’ War.
Best friends Calla, Hannah, and Delphine have been dragged to the ends of the earth and back, with the threat of the Fates’ War always looming above them. But now the war—the one that will decide who lives, who dies, whose magic is preserved, and whose is scattered to the wind—is here.
All the girls have something to lose. Calla has finally found her soulmate, but the mysterious reappearance of an old lover makes her question how to move forward—and whether or not a happy ending is in her reach. And while Delphine has finally fought her way back to her friends, the destruction she left in her wake might have bigger consequences than she expected—for everyone. And Hannah's past continues to haunt her—but when a long, unrequited love begins to blossom, will the darkness that swirls around her make her love wither on the vine, or will Hannah be strong enough to choose her fate?
This thrilling and action-packed conclusion to the A Ruinous Fate series takes readers on a final, epic journey where lives will be lost, loves will be tested, and fates will be decided, forever.
Best friends Calla, Hannah, and Delphine have been dragged to the ends of the earth and back, with the threat of the Fates’ War always looming above them. But now the war—the one that will decide who lives, who dies, whose magic is preserved, and whose is scattered to the wind—is here.
All the girls have something to lose. Calla has finally found her soulmate, but the mysterious reappearance of an old lover makes her question how to move forward—and whether or not a happy ending is in her reach. And while Delphine has finally fought her way back to her friends, the destruction she left in her wake might have bigger consequences than she expected—for everyone. And Hannah's past continues to haunt her—but when a long, unrequited love begins to blossom, will the darkness that swirls around her make her love wither on the vine, or will Hannah be strong enough to choose her fate?
This thrilling and action-packed conclusion to the A Ruinous Fate series takes readers on a final, epic journey where lives will be lost, loves will be tested, and fates will be decided, forever.
544 pages, Hardcover
Published July 29, 2025
26 people are currently reading
1760 people want to read
About the author
Kaylie Smith
11 books7,716 followersKaylie Smith is the #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of dark fantasy romance books. She grew up in Louisiana where she frequently haunted bookstores and practiced her writing craft. Now she resides in SoCal where she lives with her dog and two cats, writes on the beach, and occasionally misses the sound of thunderstorms.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 15, 2025
*3.5 stars
It’s no secret that I have not enjoyed this series as much as I originally wished too. I saw little change between books one and two and a lot of the same issues have continued into the finale. However, the author’s writing style was better here than in the previous two installments. The annoying character descriptors have all but disappeared in this book and I couldn’t help but rejoice.
Everything else though was pretty mediocre
Hannah and Caspian continued to be useless in my opinion. Like with book two, the character on the cover, who feels like they should be given the priority spotlight, still are relegated to the side.
The romances were also flat. I have a problem with every single character being paired up. I did not care about anyone’s relationship nor fully rooted for them. I wanted Delphine and Hannah to get together but they lacked chemistry (and that ending?? why). Calla and Gideon are boring imo—still wish it was Ezra. And speaking of Ezra, I don't know where to begin with his whole plot. He’s brought back from the dead and the author immediately speed runs a romantic relationship between him and Sabine. The funny thing is, it was my favorite dynamic to read in this book but it was fully unneeded and unnecessary. Ezra didn’t have a purpose besides falling in love with Sabine and learning how to fly I guess. So it ultimately felt like a waste to bring him back. I know I expressed my discontent with him dying in the first book but at this point, I'd rather him stay dead. He barely interacted with the main group. I don’t understand the point of his resurrection at all from the writing stand point.
Also for three books we’ve been talking about the war and at the last hundred page mark, it still hadn’t officially started. The characters just travel the whole book searching for various things from the fates’ dice to people. Since this is the last book, I would expect the war to cover at least a third of the story.
Ultimately this series was bogged down by too many characters and underdeveloped romances. I would have rather seen a smaller central cast and two romances that could be given the care and attention needed to feel weighted and earned.
It’s no secret that I have not enjoyed this series as much as I originally wished too. I saw little change between books one and two and a lot of the same issues have continued into the finale. However, the author’s writing style was better here than in the previous two installments. The annoying character descriptors have all but disappeared in this book and I couldn’t help but rejoice.
Everything else though was pretty mediocre
Hannah and Caspian continued to be useless in my opinion. Like with book two, the character on the cover, who feels like they should be given the priority spotlight, still are relegated to the side.
The romances were also flat. I have a problem with every single character being paired up. I did not care about anyone’s relationship nor fully rooted for them. I wanted Delphine and Hannah to get together but they lacked chemistry (and that ending?? why). Calla and Gideon are boring imo—still wish it was Ezra. And speaking of Ezra, I don't know where to begin with his whole plot. He’s brought back from the dead and the author immediately speed runs a romantic relationship between him and Sabine. The funny thing is, it was my favorite dynamic to read in this book but it was fully unneeded and unnecessary. Ezra didn’t have a purpose besides falling in love with Sabine and learning how to fly I guess. So it ultimately felt like a waste to bring him back. I know I expressed my discontent with him dying in the first book but at this point, I'd rather him stay dead. He barely interacted with the main group. I don’t understand the point of his resurrection at all from the writing stand point.
Also for three books we’ve been talking about the war and at the last hundred page mark, it still hadn’t officially started. The characters just travel the whole book searching for various things from the fates’ dice to people. Since this is the last book, I would expect the war to cover at least a third of the story.
Ultimately this series was bogged down by too many characters and underdeveloped romances. I would have rather seen a smaller central cast and two romances that could be given the care and attention needed to feel weighted and earned.
August 22, 2025
This is perfect for fans who love young adult fantasy set in a magical world on a brink of war, with characters who have a wide array of powers. My heart got crushed in the third installment, but I’m hoping there will be a spin-off. 🤞🏼
A very special thanks to TLC Book Tours and Disney Books for the gifted copy
A very special thanks to TLC Book Tours and Disney Books for the gifted copy
August 19, 2025
what I loved most about this series is the worldbuilding but the rest of it felt a little dull. The plot had a lot of potential but ended up being flat.
December 27, 2025
A raging heart review:
DNF’d and skimmed through after reading about 200 pages. This book had the set up to be a great one. I really like the fantasy realm that Kaylie has created and the magic system, but her writing is just not captivating me this time and I find myself constantly taking breaks with this last book.
The pacing is just awkward and not fast enough. There are too many dialogue scenes that are repetitive where one character has a conversation with another character, and then they have the same conversation with a different set of characters on the next page. We don’t need that.
Additionally, I still don’t care at all about the Valkyries. Why should I care about Meli? I just met these characters in the last book and I couldn’t care less about any of them. Why are we introducing characters towards the end of a series? It never works for any of the book series that I’ve read. I just do not care about anyone outside of the core group that was developed in the first novel. now, every other chapter is from their point of view.
After reading the whole series, I have a critique for all of the books, including this one.
1. For a book that has no sex in it, they sure do spend a lot of time explaining everyone’s sexuality, which adds nothing to the plot. I am actually happily refreshed that there weren’t any explicit scenes in either of the three novels, however, I really don’t care then what everyone’s sexuality is and I really don’t want everyone to be coupled up.
2. In general, the three books had such annoying explanations of every characters features such as the main character being extremely thick and curvy. It was really weird to read each sentence that described her figure and her trying to put on clothes. Not to mention, I really don’t care whether the characters in these fantasy novels have periods or not so tell me why some of the books in this series mentioned that just in passing… But it had no impact to the plot whatsoever.
I can’t tell you how disappointed I am with how this series ended up… the potential to be great was massive! But it was a let down.
DNF’d and skimmed through after reading about 200 pages. This book had the set up to be a great one. I really like the fantasy realm that Kaylie has created and the magic system, but her writing is just not captivating me this time and I find myself constantly taking breaks with this last book.
The pacing is just awkward and not fast enough. There are too many dialogue scenes that are repetitive where one character has a conversation with another character, and then they have the same conversation with a different set of characters on the next page. We don’t need that.
Additionally, I still don’t care at all about the Valkyries. Why should I care about Meli? I just met these characters in the last book and I couldn’t care less about any of them. Why are we introducing characters towards the end of a series? It never works for any of the book series that I’ve read. I just do not care about anyone outside of the core group that was developed in the first novel. now, every other chapter is from their point of view.
After reading the whole series, I have a critique for all of the books, including this one.
1. For a book that has no sex in it, they sure do spend a lot of time explaining everyone’s sexuality, which adds nothing to the plot. I am actually happily refreshed that there weren’t any explicit scenes in either of the three novels, however, I really don’t care then what everyone’s sexuality is and I really don’t want everyone to be coupled up.
2. In general, the three books had such annoying explanations of every characters features such as the main character being extremely thick and curvy. It was really weird to read each sentence that described her figure and her trying to put on clothes. Not to mention, I really don’t care whether the characters in these fantasy novels have periods or not so tell me why some of the books in this series mentioned that just in passing… But it had no impact to the plot whatsoever.
I can’t tell you how disappointed I am with how this series ended up… the potential to be great was massive! But it was a let down.
December 28, 2025
"Anywhere. Everywhere."
3.5 stars.
I've really enjoyed reading this series, but unfortunately this final installment didn't quite give me what I wanted. The world building in this trilogy has been a little weak, with me wanting to learn and see more about it, but its weaknesses were more apparent in A Raging Heart than the other ones. The war felt like something that was happening simply because it has to for the plot, and the focus on other characters and their POVs (which I did love, don't get me wrong) made Calla have not as much page-time (or maybe even agency?) as I thought she did in previous books. I haven't read the others in a while, so maybe I'm just forgetting what happened.
For the writing, I noticed a lot of repetitive word use and multiple typos, especially in the last 50 pages. I normally don't really mind the occasional typo, but multiple within a certain page span is a lot, especially because one involved the wrong character name being printed within a paragraph. Sometimes characters are called by their nickname instead of their full name, which makes sense when the POVs change, but it's done all the time and doesn't seem to line up with different POVs. I don't mind this as a narrative affect, but it was inconsistent.
Despite all this, I have really enjoyed my time with this series and these CHARACTERS. The characters and their dynamics are the highlight of this series, and Kaylie Smith is so good at writing complicated situations that her books are always a delight.
August 20, 2025
“I don’t know whether to scream, cry, or immediately start rereading.”
A Raging Heart is the exact kind of finale I was hoping for—and also totally unprepared for. Kaylie Smith wraps up this trilogy with a bang (and maybe a few emotional gut punches I didn’t ask for but definitely felt). If you're here, you're already invested in Calla, Hannah, and Delphine—and let me tell you, they do not get a break.
The Fates’ War is finally here, and everything is on the line: love, power, destiny, actual survival. Calla's stuck between the person she's meant to be with and the person who suddenly reappears to mess with her head (and maybe her heart?). Delphine is finally back in the fold but has to reckon with everything she’s done to get there. And Hannah? She’s dealing with a whole shadowy past and some very complicated feelings—and honestly, I just want to give her a hug.
The world-building stays sharp, the magic system remains chef’s kiss, and the romance is beautifully messy (as it should be). I felt like I was holding my breath through half the book and screaming into a pillow during the rest.
A Raging Heart is the exact kind of finale I was hoping for—and also totally unprepared for. Kaylie Smith wraps up this trilogy with a bang (and maybe a few emotional gut punches I didn’t ask for but definitely felt). If you're here, you're already invested in Calla, Hannah, and Delphine—and let me tell you, they do not get a break.
The Fates’ War is finally here, and everything is on the line: love, power, destiny, actual survival. Calla's stuck between the person she's meant to be with and the person who suddenly reappears to mess with her head (and maybe her heart?). Delphine is finally back in the fold but has to reckon with everything she’s done to get there. And Hannah? She’s dealing with a whole shadowy past and some very complicated feelings—and honestly, I just want to give her a hug.
The world-building stays sharp, the magic system remains chef’s kiss, and the romance is beautifully messy (as it should be). I felt like I was holding my breath through half the book and screaming into a pillow during the rest.
December 6, 2025
3.5⭐️ rounded up. Let me preface this by saying that while I like some YA books/series, in general it’s not my main jam. I absolutely LOVE Kaylie Smith’s writing and I liked this series but I think this one got a little away from them sometimes. This last one had too many characters that I wasn’t connected to. I really like Calla and Gideon and I was definitely invested in Delphine and Hannah getting together, but (minor spoiler) I don’t think every character needed a love interest. One in particular felt completely unnecessary to the plot and I don’t really think it added anything to the story at all. I also felt like we were waiting ages to get to the Fates’ War (I had like an hour and a half left in the audiobook version before we got there and it was over so quickly!), so it seemed way lower stakes than it was. Still a really interesting magic system, and I will 100% read anything Kaylie writes because Phantasma is in my top 5 favorite books I’ve ever read and I loved Enchantra!
August 4, 2025
A fantastic ending to a fantastic series. It was beautiful, tragic, enticing, sexy, exciting. All the things you wish a romantasy story would be. She continues to surprise me and I can't wait to see what's next. KAYLIE GIRL YOU DID IT AGAIN 🙂↕️
December 22, 2025
at first i couldn't get into it as much so i slowly read it on and off. around the middle to the end it got addictive and so worth it that i almost want to read it again but this time in only a few sittings
August 3, 2025
I am desperately not okay. You knew exactly how to squash a girls heart, Kaylie
August 17, 2025
No. No no. Why. Hannah my darling.
September 9, 2025
2.5 side characters were the best thou!
September 14, 2025
3.5 stars
September 15, 2025
Not my cup of tea
September 30, 2025
I think this was a good wrap up for the series. I do hope there's a spin off or something for more from this universe. I got closure, but I want "more closure".
I would also love to know more about some of the characters from the end of the book.
I would also love to know more about some of the characters from the end of the book.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews