Captive of Talionis

Talionis #4

by C.J. Milacci

They demanded obedience. She chose defiance. Now hope rises.

Bria Averton never wanted to return to Talionis. Now she's forced to help train an army poised for destruction, with Commander Ark's invasion of Sitreea just months away. Walking a razor's edge, she appears compliant while secretly sabotaging his plans from within.

Monitored at every turn, Bria finds unexpected allies in Talionis's growing resistance. But the Commander knows exactly where to strike—using Storm and Matthias as leverage, he ensures her defiance comes at an impossible cost.

In a city built on fear, her greatest weapon may be the hope she refuses to surrender.

585 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2025

About the author

C.J. Milacci is the award-winning author of the Talionis Series, and she seeks to take her readers on a grand adventure that begins with a single word. As a referee, she is always relearning the hard lesson that it’s impossible to make everyone happy, and she’s discovered that stories can be found anywhere, even on a lacrosse field. She is passionate about crafting stories of good overcoming evil, finding hope in the midst of seemingly hopeless circumstances, and true acceptance. Always willing to get real about hard issues, C.J. also enjoys the cheesiest of puns. She chats about writing, her faith, bubble tea, and other fun adventures online (@cjmilacci) and at cjmilacci.com.

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, personally ⭐️ Christian Fiction - YA Dystopian

About this book:

“They demanded obedience. She chose defiance. Now hope rises.
Bria Averton never wanted to return to Talionis. Now she's forced to help train an army poised for destruction, with Commander Ark's invasion of Sitreea just months away. Walking a razor's edge, she appears compliant while secretly sabotaging his plans from within.
Monitored at every turn, Bria finds unexpected allies in Talionis's growing resistance. But the Commander knows exactly where to strike—using Storm and Matthias as leverage, he ensures her defiance comes at an impossible cost.
In a city built on fear, her greatest weapon may be the hope she refuses to surrender.”


Series: Book #4 in the “Talionis” series. Reviews of Book #1, Book #2, and Book #3.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are remembered, referenced, mentioned, & discussed; Prayers & Thanking God; Feeling peace while at a church; Many talks about God, Jesus, trusting Him and His timing, & letting go of fear; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Bria doesn’t understand why God would be silent about the evil in the world and not stop the evil people; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Bria asks God for forgiveness for acting like everything depended on her and what she can do rather than trusting God, giving her fears to Him, & remembering that He is in control; She feels peace after relinquishing control *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of God, Jesus, trusting Him, letting go of fear, God’s plan, & having faith; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of a church & its stained glass windows of a cross; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of Heaven & eternal life;
*Note: Bria sees someone working out “hard enough in an attempt to kill [his] personal demons” and recognizes it because she’s done the same; Bria thinks the villain has lived as if he is a god; Many mentions of evil people, their evil plans, & their wicked smiles; A few mentions of a man’s “spiritual mentor”; A few mentions of luck.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘suck up’, two ‘screwed up’s, four ‘stupid’s, and six ‘dumb’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Eavesdropping; Lots of attacking/fighting, being shot, being shot at, being held at gunpoint, gunfire, being hit/beaten/slapped, being poisoned, setting and hearing explosions, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, passing out, & throwing up (semi-detailed); Seeing others be killed and nearly killed, shot (including a child), held at gunpoint, shocked/tased, hit/beaten, attacked, fighting, in pain, injured, bleeding, & unconscious (and recalling most of it all, up to semi-detailed); Bria recalls seeing deaths of friends or their fake deaths in virtual scenarios & grieves over their deaths and the possibility of other friends being in harm’s way (semi-detailed); Bria and the others (including young children) go through training exercises that seem very realistic and includes shooting and killing those in their way, seeing others shot and killed (including friends), hearing gunfire and screams, & setting explosions (both in real-life and via technology; Bria also has to create these virtual scenarios, struggles with how realistic it all is, and has nightmares of it; all up to semi-detailed); Bria is often threatened and manipulated by the villain (including threats about harm coming to those she cares about); A child recalls seeing a loved one murdered (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of deaths (including drownings), near deaths, murders, executions/“eliminations”, bodies, guilt, & grief (including for a brother, a son, & a mother); Many mentions of explosives/explosions, fires, weapons/guns, gunfire, being shot, being shot at, being held at gunpoint, & shooting others; Many mentions of beatings, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of wars plans & child soldiers; Many mentions of possible deaths & a leader not caring if others die while doing his plans; Many mentions of manipulation, lies, lying, & liars; Many mentions of hatred; Many mentions of being betrayed & traitors; Mentions of a girl becoming a “weapon of war” due to technology implanted in her (like a hand with a machine gun); Mentions of abusive (physically and verbally) parents & beatings from one father; Mentions adults cruelly threatening children and enjoying their fear; Mentions of drugs/poisons & being poisoned; Mentions of jails/prisons; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of rumors & gossip; A couple mentions of a woman being ignored and abandoned by her mother; A couple mentions of teens running away from home; A mention of a son being almost relieved when his abusive parent dies; A mention of a tattoo (that has a Christian meaning); A mention of saving someone’s butt.


Sexual Content- Two hand kisses, three head/forehead kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and a semi-detailed kiss; Remembering a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Flutters, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (including muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Bria finds herself distracted when around Matthias; Mentions of blushes & winks; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a illegitimate son, the father refusing to acknowledge the son’s existence, & an affair; Light love, falling/being in love, & the emotions.

-Bria Averton, age 17-18
1st person P.O.V. of Bria
585 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Two Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)

🎶 It’s the final countdown - do do doooo doo - do do do do dooo 🎶

I’ve been looking forward to the final showdown in this book since the very first book—so about a gazillion pages ago? This series has definitely had longer paged books than I expected, but I definitely felt like I knew every single detail that Bria was thinking (and also experiencing) because of it. That’s a bit of a positive and negative at times for me because I just wanted to get on with the justice and takedown of the evil villain, but I do like dystopian books so I wasn’t too bothered by it. This final book sets at just under 600 pages—it really didn’t feel like that, though, and I was pretty invested into the story where the pages flew by quickly, so a major props to the author for that!

I did struggle a bit with all the different characters and keeping track of past events, but there was the character chart at the beginning and enough recaps/reminders that I was able to follow along pretty well.

While this might not be a new favorite Christian dystopian series for me personally, it’s definitely one I would recommend for teens who like the genre—particularly those who don’t want the hopelessness than a lot of mainstream dystopian books/series have. Even though there’s a lot of brutal events and training plus seeing deaths of others, it never felt gory or gruesome or like the author was just adding those parts in for the sake of “upping the stakes” for our main character. They were all important scenes that showed more of Bria’s character and determination. We weren’t left in the gutter of the horrible things the evil government leader was doing, so to speak. There’s awful things happening, but the reader isn’t given enough details to make it completely stomach-turning or be able to visualize some scenes, which I greatly appreciated. Bria doesn’t make the best choices at times (I wanted to shake her only a few times in this final book), but I can honestly say that she handled everything much better than I probably would in her shoes. Overall a pretty solid series in the Christian YA market and I look forward to seeing what this author writes next.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[𐬺☼.☆彡sᥲrᥲ ☆彡.☼𐬻 · Rating 4 out of 5]

༻𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜༺
------------------------
12+
Violence/ typical for dystopian
Romance/ kisses hand holding
Other/ none
------------------------
Woooohhheee
Im offically done with the series!
*pats myself*
This one was definitely not my most favorite out of the series
But it was still good.
I just wish there was more plot twists that like hit hard
Since its the finale of the series.
But it’s fine :)
If your looking for a christan dystopian series i will most defiantly
Recomend this one to you :)
There are christan themes woven throughout the books, and
The action is always hitting hard with these :D
So definitely give them a go!
------------------------

Even though this reveiw was a lot shorter than my other ones,
I definitely love this series and am so excited
to see what CJ does next :)
Thanks for giving us the privilege of reading about Bria’s journey!!

Bye!

[Finch (KI KI AYY) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still in denial the series is over…..

I love Andor and Kiwi and Retro so FRIGGIN much, Matthias was amazing, but Bria was just okay. She wasn’t my favorite in this one like prior books.

Amazing end to the series, tho a little abrupt I must say…. the ending was not what I was expecting and I was a little disappointed.

[Bella Raine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A THRILLING conclusion to the action-packed Talionis Series filled with all the suspense, faith, and romance of the other books!

Eeekkkk! It was so satisfying to see the conclusion of this series. I jumped on the series train for then way back during the Kickstarter of Fugitive so I've been reading this in real time. Which on one hand is fun but also it's hard because you have to wait so long in between books. So, all that to say, after all this waiting, getting to witness the end of this series was so amazing!

Another aspect that made this so fun was that I actually got the amazing opportunity to beta-read this for CJ. Getting to see what has changed or improved was so fun! However, there was enough time in between when I beta-read and I read the final copy that I forgot a lot of the fun details that made it so action-packed.

I love love Bria and her journey. She had witnessed so much but fights daily to keep hope even when her whole circumstances seem dark. The way she leads with grace and passion, fights with integrity, and still is real enough to break down crying makes her such a powerful character. All her struggles are real which makes her wins hit all the harder. ❤️

And Matthias. 😭 Goodness, I love his character. He is just the best. ❤️ He's such a PERFECT balance of protective man while also being broken & fighting his own battles. The way his arc showed up in this book was so beautiful. It made him so much more loveable. 🥹

I'm so sad this is over. SO SAD. 😭 But, I'm so so pleased how this ended. 🥰 I can't WAIT to see what CJ writes next. <3

✨ 5 Stars ✨

[Avie K :): · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH 🥹😭😭
This is my favorite book out of all of them for sure.
EPIC CONCLUSION.
Completely satisfying. (Except I want more books in this series!!)
1000/10, 1000 ⭐️/5
THE END WAS WILDDD. And very well written. It made sense and didn’t feel forced nor anticlimactic.

❌🌶️(🙈or🐵)= no spice, no closed or open door.
❌🤬= no cussing
📈⚔️🩸= high action, dead of loved ones, war, war simulations, but no gory descriptions.
❌ 🏳️‍🌈= no LGBTQ+ references or characters
✅✝️= A TON of faith content!!!!! Most of the characters are Christians and Christianity is a HUGE part of this series!!!
❌🙄= NO DUMB TROPES 🤩🥳

This is one of the few series I’ve read that has GREAT Christian content but also a GREAT plot, storyline, character development, and clean chemistry!!! In other words, it’s safe, clean, uplifting, and edifying, AS WELL AS interesting and super fun and entertaining!!!

🔎📚 Similar: Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes
- same content ratings, but perhaps slightly gorier wound descriptions.

Oh, C.J., can you make sure Matthias has a long lost twin brother so I can have him pretty please? 🤣

[R [for Jesus] · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH. MY. WORD.

I AM OVERFLOWING WITH WORDS AND SPEECHLESS AT THE SAME TIME.

I feel like I have lived a thousand lives. I don’t even know how one can give a review on a book this incomparable. I will say this first, in all certainty:

✨God was and is with CJ Milacci as she wrote this story and others.✨

Because how else could this series — essentially just paper and a creative brain (that GOD made) — possibly have carried such a depth of meaning and significance and godly character that literally can lift spirits with solid, undeniable TRUTH. ✝️

I have so much I could say but really, it wouldn’t be enough. How can I love this series, this author, so much? Because I truly appreciate impeccable storytelling, and a good story always has an amazing motive and moral behind it. Just like this.

Read the book, be impacted, and let it lead you to the LORD. Without even knowing that it is!! And don’t worry, if you are not a Christian, it is not an overly “religious” Spiritual book. It is CERTAINLY NOT cheesy or any kind of cringy. Trust me. It’s intense.

But so. Incredibly. Worth It.

I hope this encourages you to read CJ Milacci’s work. She deserves our support, readers. She is doing amazing things for the glory of our Father in Heaven.


Until next time. 📚💕✝️

Ps. Oh yeah… way beyond five stars/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤩

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woof. This is a hard book. An excellent book, but difficult. It’s well written. The characters and world are fully developed. Truly well done. And if you are a fan of dystopian YA fiction, read this series.

But I personally struggle with the genre. That’s what makes it a hard read for me (and keeps it from being 5 stars). Young adult = teen, and in a lot of ways these are still children. Reading about children coping with adult issues of a dystopian world is hard.

What makes this book worth reading? Faith, friendship, and love push back against evil throughout this series. Evil is not glorified. It is called out for what it is. While teens are the focus of the story, there are adults who care working in the background to support them. The teens are in turn looking out for the children as best they can. There is hope. And that makes a world of difference.

But be warned. There is violence and abuse in this book that some readers may find triggering.

Overall, an excellent and satisfying conclusion to the series. Definitely not a standalone novel.

[Jacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My emotions while reading this book:
📈📉📈📉📈📉
Wow. I read through the entire book in a couple days, which is definitely saying something considering it's 500 pages long. I was very invested.
My thoughts (in no particular order):
- Everyone is going to need therapy after this.
- With book 1, and even some of the others in this series, there were parts that were slow-paced and harder to get through. Not so with this one, I could not put it down. It's like a mini cardio workout. I was stressed the whole time.
- Matthias and Bria. 10/10, no notes.
- Did this book actually manage to make me... feel bad for Laban?
- Shane's redemption arc was welcome, if somewhat expected. I appreciate that this book makes it clear that even though he's forgiven, things can't always go back to exactly how they were before.
- I think one of my only critiques I have for this series is the large number of characters. I understand that there would have to be a lot of people involved for the story to work in real life, but it definitely started to get confusing keeping track of everyone by the end. I think some characters, especially minor ones that are only mentioned once or twice and aren't vital to the plot, could have remained nameless and it wouldn't have affected the story much.
- Moment of silence for Ava, Cade, Damara, Nate, Marci, Asher, Arwen, and Lorenzo.
Overall, I was more than satisfied with the ending of this series. I felt a lot of things while reading. Sadness, fear, anger, happiness, despair, and hope. So much hope. That is one thing I will forever appreciate about this series and its message. No matter how much it seems like darkness and evil will win, we must never give up hope.

[Kathy Brasby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captive of Talionis delivers Talionis fans with fast-paced action woven into faith-centered themes and compelling characters. C.J. Milacci's conclusion to this series balances heart-stopping action with emotional resonance that will leave readers both satisfied while giving them more to consider about their own response to evil.

Many of the characters are familiar, but we meet new heroes who join the main characters in bravely standing in the face of overwhelming exploitation.

What distinguishes Captive of Talionis from countless other dystopian novels is its unapologetic exploration of faith as a source of revolutionary hope. The author presents the belief that even in the darkest circumstances, there exists the possibility of redemption and renewal.

Highly recommended! Captive of Talionis Captive of Talionis closes the series with a breath-taking but satisfying conclusion.

[Paige Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! This is book 4 of the Talionis series and it kept me on the edge of my seat just like the others. It is so well written. The characters, the story line…the battle of good v. evil…the twist and turns of the plot… once you start reading, you don’t want to stop!
Supposedly these books are written for young adults. My granddaughter introduced them to me and I tried the first one at her request. I am 62 years old and felt like I was on a rollercoaster of emotions! Hahaha
I was hooked and waited excitedly as she finished each book and then shared it with me. The underlying spiritual encouragement woven throughout is brilliant. I highly recommend this series. Thank you, C. J. Milacci!

[Katie Robles · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great ending to a great series! Fans of the first three books will not be disappointed. It's been such a joy to follow Bria and her friends (and her enemies) to this satisfying conclusion. This story has action, faith, friendship, romance, and teens full of courage who rise to the challenges life throws at them.

[Cooper Hite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clean YA fiction series, about a Teenage girl who fights against a military city to try and protect the people she loves. I can’t believe the series is over, but I loved it nonetheless.
See my full review at "https://cooperhite.com/book-reviews/"

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wow wow….what a superb ending to a fantastic book!! The author pulls at your heart strings, then jolts you with surprises…well done! Great ending to an amazing series….do yourself a favor and buy and read these books!!

[Crystal J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

I know this book is for young adults but as an ”old” adult I really enjoyed it. I recommend this to anyone

[Ashley Schaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic conclusion to a wonderful series! I loved how the characters grew as they wrestled with their fears and weaknesses and came to a place of trusting God with the outcome of their lives.