War of Fire and Fury

Flame and Thorns #5

by Marion Blackwood

The final war against the Iceheart Dynasty has already started, and now it is a race against time to catch up before their enemies can wipe them out completely. But after everything that has been done to her, Selena struggles heavily with the effects of magic. Managing the full impact of it while fighting on the losing side of a war might just prove to be impossible. At least alone.

But her friends are battling their own demons, and not everyone comes out unscathed. With the tension mounting, long-overdue confrontations come to a head in the midst of chaos. Relationships will be changed, loyalties will be tested, and hearts will break, because not everyone survives to see a new era dawn.

For better or worse, the greatest battle of their time will come to an end. But in a war of fire and fury, who will be left when the ashes settle?

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Dragons, Fantasy Romance, Fae, Romance, Magic

524 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2026

About the author

Marion Blackwood is the author of The Oncoming Storm series, the Court of Elves series, the Ruthless Villains series, the Ruthless Enemy trilogy, and the Flame and Thorns series. She has a Master's Degree in English and History Education, and she worked as a high school teacher before becoming a full-time author. When she's not busy writing fantasy books or traveling the world, she reads, binges shows, and loses at video games. Marion has previously lived in the US and China, but now she once again calls the beautiful country of Sweden home. To find out more, visit: www.marionblackwood.com

Reviews

[makayla 𖧧.⋆☼ ݁ · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 🌟 “𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦.”

Wow. Just wow. Edge of my seat, laughing, crying, screaming! What an amazing ending to such a fun series. These books have become some of my absolute 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 and will be living rent free in my head for the foreseeable future ❤️‍🔥🤌🏼

These characters UGH I love them all!! 🫂

So glad we got more from Orion and Isera. Their banter and tension is soooo good 🔥 Also Alistair and Lyra, I’m so obsessed. And it’s not even just them as couples but them as standalone characters have completely stolen my heart. I would actually die for a separate book about any of them!

Selena and Draven. I have TEARS in my eyes. No notes, just longing 🥹 I can’t even describe how I feel about them. The way they push each other, lean on each other. The banter, the spice (🥵🤭🤪), and again, it’s not even just them as a couple but Draven and Selena as their own people, their growth throughout this series. Everything they’ve both endured, I can’t get enough!!!

❤️‍🔥 “𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥.”

❤️‍🔥 “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.”

» 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝟿 😭 Orion my baby 💔 he honestly might be my favorite person in this entire series
» 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝟸𝟽 😭😭😭
» Isera’s story is all pain. But the full circle ending…my heart 🥹
» Lavendera Dawnwalker. I simply have no words ❤️‍🩹

I was literally balling my eyes out the last 20%. The way Marion incorporated details from the previous books and wrapped it up in this final story was so full circle. So wholesome. Heart. So. Full. 💕

This is one of those series I accept no criticism for, have your opinions but I’m not listening!!!! 😆 sue me!!!!! 🤣

·˖✶𓆩 ⌞𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔⌝ 𓆪✶˖·
𖥻𝟷 𝐸𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝐹𝓁𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓃𝓈: 𝟺🌟
𖥻𝟸 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝐼𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐵𝓁𝑜𝑜𝒹: 𝟺.𝟻🌟
𖥻𝟹 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝐿𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒟𝑒𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓉: 𝟻 🌟
𖥻𝟺 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒱𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈: 𝟺.𝟻 🌟
𖥻𝟻 𝒲𝒶𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝐹𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓎: 𝟼 🌟

⋆༺𓆩 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓐𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓮: 𝟺.𝟾 🌟𓆪༻⋆



𝚙𝚛𝚎-𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍: Release day 🗣️🥳 I am SO excited to pickup where the last cliffhanger left off! But also sad this is the last book I don’t want to leave this world 😭 gnawing at my desk to get off work so I can read this!!! ❤️‍🔥🤩

[Giulia ❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad ending, but I cringed a few times while reading

(SPOILER)
Also, I’m sad no relevant character died while fighting

Pre release:
I have a feeling Alistair will die… but I hope I’m wrong. The death of a main character would actually be something I’d somehow appreciate, because this is what happens during war and it’s not realistic to win a war without losing anyone, but not Alistair please, let it be Galen

[APo R · Rating 1 out of 5]

*huffff* 🙄
✨brace yourselves because im about to go off.✨ 🕺
my rant is about to start 💞💞💞
I came in having very low expectations.... and they were fulfilled. 😑
I hate Selena so fucking much and im not sure I've ever felt that before. 💩
its ALWAYS THE SAME WITH HER. literally her entire arc for TWO books was just her being a magic addict and forcing emotions into ppl and then feeling guilt about it.
GET OVER YOURSELF. 🖕
lets dive in

I wanted to DNF that book sooo bad buttt i pulled through and it cost me three hours of my life that I will never get back.
The memory plot honestly was good but the author RUINED IT by giving fucking Selena her memories back in a single chapter. ONE!! and so easily too.
I just felt like she got her memories way too soon and she was back to her whiny bitchy annoying infuriating bitchy self 💀
Its so annoying to read her pov because well her inner thoughts display who she is at her core, and lets just say she's a ✨whiner✨: always complaining about
-the death of her parents 💀
-the fact that she's imprisoned in her court
-her magic being 'weak' and her being the weak link (tbh she FUCKING IS the weak link.)
girly rrly thought she was the only one with trauma ✋.

ALL of the other characters have trauma, and dead parents, and are imprisoned, and TRAUMA AGAIN. Like, she thought she was ✨special✨.
Also the number of breakdowns she has during the book is 🤯 mind-blowing. The number of times I read 'she screamed' is again 🤯.
Isera is LITERALLY DEATHLY SCARED OF TIGHT SPACES and you don't see her having a complete mental breakdown over it and if she has one, she doesn't want the attention.
But 👑QUEEN SELENA👑 here thinks that the whole world revolves around her and she's so important, and tbh she's the least important character in the book.
She doesn't leave an impression on herself (I lowkey forgot her name at some point).
And omgggg the number go times she mentions her parents being dead and her being lazy as fuuuu and not checking if she was using magic on them blah blah blah *insert long sigh* im pretty sure at some point the author just copy and pasted some sentences because it was so repetitive.
Like I became so much more invested in Alistair and Lyra's dynamic that I completely forgot about her relationship with draven. (on a related note, those two are so mushy mushy now I get second hand embarrassment reading their interactions. like pls stop ✋ and get away from me)

I liked isera and orion's dynamic soo much more and selena and dravens.
Also, the author tries (emphasis on tries because she def did not succeed (insert side eye)) to portray selena as this badass 'im gonna become a villain to defeat the villain' heroine, but its really giving ' i try way too hard to have an interesting personality'.
Girly thought she was becoming like jesina 🤡🤡🤡🤡.
No sorry girl but even the unhinged psychopathic villain is more interesting to read than you.
Sorry not sorry.
Like she really thought she was the most badass girl out there when she 'became a villain'.
selena:😎😎😈😈 her really: 💩💩💩🤡
Im sorry but she has the personality traits of a motherfking POTATO 🥔🥔🥔 and that's an insult to the potato.
Anyway at about half of the book, i actively wanted to throw myself out the window 🔫💀🔫💀
so I skipped ahead a lot.

There were a lot of useless and predictable battles, and I honestly don't even remember a lot. 😑
At one point I physically could not continue reading this piece of shitt (excuse my french) so i had to take a few deep breaths before continuing while bearing in mind that SELENA isn't a real person (thank the lord) and that if I threw my kindle against the wall I would have to pay for it 💳💳💳
the moment money 💰was involved, I quickly calmed down. BUT still cringed so so so hard at .... THE WHOLE BOOK. 🕺🕺🕺
Her whole problem with being addicted to magic was honestly pathetic (just my opinion not trying imply anything about real ppl fighting real addictions ♥️).
But selenas struggle with the magic went on for TWO WHOLE BOOKS and it just made her rlly weak and there was to a single bone of compassion in my body for her. like when she KILLS ppl she's crying, and guilty, and guilty again and telling herself that it will be the last time OMFG STFU AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF 🤬🤬🤬. I hate her so much. She sounded like me when im trying to stop eating m and ms 🍫 like 'one more, one more' .
bish respectfully stfu.
I was rooting for her death for the entire book 💀💀💀 i wanted her to die sooo baad cuz she deserved death im sorry she did.
The whole plot with a secret clan felt used and re used to me like it was obvious.
the book didn't have any satisfying deaths like come onnn i felt like I was reliving the stranger things finale (my fav show love u for eternity ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥) just KILL SOME CHARACTERS PLEASE.
Me, as a reader, I want to feel emotions and not only the happy emotions during the closure at the end. being a good author is knowing how to take risks and kill off somebody to keep the audience on their toes.
Its a fantasy novel, there's a FUCKING WAR GOING ON and your telling the only person who dies is the portal opening dude???? No. Kill more people and don't bullshit us with the *almost death scenes* *cough ALISTAIR*
The pacing was honestly not good and the action scene felt repeated like they go on a dangerous mission, shit happens, selena ✨ screams ✨they ALMSOT DIE but miraculously survive. It's all just too repetitive.
ANYWAY I think ive said everything that needed to be said, still kudos to the author for writing this series, writing is though shit and Im in no way undermining her accomplishments, just sharing my ✨thoughts✨.
The ending was nice enough if you loved the characters it was perfect, if u hated a certain characters *cough cough* well Ive said it above.
my overall thoughts: 💩💩🥔🥔
I preferred the first books and was genuinely disappointed because it def had potential to be a fire series.
Will not read again for my own sanity or else i will seriously consider therapy....
Thank you so much if you stayed during my rant, and TOODLES 🫡🫡

[annjella · Rating 5 out of 5]

im not okay. this series is my new number one. this was so beautiful. i am tearing up thinking about how perfect this series was. this is why i love reading. this series has a piece of my heart that i will never be able to take back.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another example of a series that got dragged out into 5 books when it should have only been a trilogy. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over.

[Milda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series started off really promising, I appreciated the growth of the main female character, the accurate portrayal of grief, depression, addiction even. I really fell in love with the side characters who went from bullies and enemies to found family that bonded so well, they showed their soft sides.
Unfortunately this last book felt a bit rushed. I believe it could have used some more editing. There were a lot of overexplaining obvious things, a lot of repetition to a point were I wanted to skip all Selena's inner monologues. It felt like she knew 5 phrases and put them on repeat but not in a mantra way. If it wasn't for all the characters I got attached to I probably would have DNFd. It does leave possibilities for maybe some spin off series for the other 2 couples which is exciting even if I wasn't the biggest fan of how this book turned out. 🐉 🦇

[Taylor Urquhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 20% - I remembered I have free will and don’t have to read books I don’t want to lol

This series had a lot of potential but I think it was just a little too drawn out for me. I might like it more if I read it now when all the books were available but by the third I was just over it.

Wanted to finish because I felt like I had to but I honestly just can’t get into this - maybe I will revisit another time lol

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, and I've only DNF'd 2 other books before. Because I enjoyed the first 4, I read the first 15%. I skimmed until about 30%, and then I gave up. I couldn't take any more of the weird magic addiction, Selena acting like she's the only person anything awful has ever happened to, and their plans falling apart. Selena's inner dialogue and and Jessina and Bane's constant foiling of their plans just kept cycling, over and over. I was going to skip to the end for the conclussion, but I realized that I just didn't care anymore. You can only read a different version of the same exact paragraphs over and over before it's time to move on. So many phrases and sentences felt like they were copy/pasted into every single chapter. Skip this book.

[Vernika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series will forever have a space in my heart🥹🥹,hands down one of the best romantasy picks for me❤️....
I was delaying the read because I didn't want it to end so soon but now that I have finally read it, I am a little overwhelmed, not gonna lie there were some parts that didn't quite work out for me but they can be overlooked. The ending was predictable and cliché but well written and comforting so I don't think I have got much to complain.....(and YES,I cried a lot in the end not only because of the contents of the book but also the fact that this beautiful journey came to an end😭😭😭)

[Katarzyna Sulima]

how can i become an ARC reader for this?? please someone help!

[Vic · Rating 1 out of 5]

(There will be some spoilers in this review)

Girl what the hell… once again I have been severely let down.

First off, the writing… awful. “He did this. Then I did that. Now I’m doing this.” It felt like I was reading at a first grade level. Word choice… cringe as fuck. Whole ass battle going on and everyone is having whack ass conversations like let’s focus people!!! I was living for the tension between Orion and Isera in the third book but I actually wanted to throw up on them in this book. Orion over sexualizing literally everything made me want to rip my eyes out (pun intended) like let’s have some class and decorum for a minute.

Also, “pocket reality” was mentioned at least a hundred times over the span of two chapters… I’m pretty sure at it was mentioned three times in one sentence. There were so many parts/conversations that were overly repetitive like plz just get to the point.

I thought the ending of book four was so dumb but it became extra dumb when Selena’s memory was restored literally within the first ten pages of this book. There was actually no good reason to have that whole under developed memory loss trope. All it did was turn Selena into a magic fiend crackhead and for what????

Selena truly took insufferable to a whole new level in this book. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt bc she’s obviously going thru all this crazy trauma but I kid you not her parents and her “wanting everything” was mentioned every. single. chapter.

My baby Draven turned into a cringy loser like there is no way this is the same man from the first book. He should’ve stayed hating Selena and maybe he would’ve kept a sliver of personality. Bruh and the throne scene… like alright pack it up temu fourth wing.

I could go on about everything else I hated about this book but for my peace of mind I’m gonna pretend like this series was only three books and move on with my life.

[Daphne Vierstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

What. A. Ride.

There are so many things I’d rather not say about this book because of how much I enjoyed the first book of this series. But if I’m being honest, after that first book it went down hill pretty fast. The story was better suited for a trilogy and because of that there was just so much empty filling and repetition.

The first half of this book was a struggle to get through for me. The addiction felt like addiction written by someone who’s never been addicted and it was shoved down our throats really hard. The fact that everything is so over explained almost made me feel like this book was written for a bunch of 8 year olds. We get it, move along *insert eye roll*

In the second half of the book there’s a lot of action, which I liked. But the fights felt kinda dragging at times and the constant reminder of the fact that the Icehearts are ‘so smart and cunning and more experienced and 6000 years old’ was a part of the annoying internal monologue that killed the story for me. Some minor characters predictably die though I have to admit 1 of them was heart breaking.

Then in the last few chapters everyone gets there little happy ending and it was kinda over the top and rushed if you ask me.

So, I’m happy this series is over and done with. I might pick up something from this author again but not in the near future and preferably a stand alone.

[Kriste ☾Papartis ir knyga☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uuu! Serija baigta! Gal norėjosi stipresnės finalinės knygos. Bet visa kelionė per penkias knygas , tikrai buvo verta 😍😍

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m actually so surprised by how much I ended up loving this series!! The first time I picked up book 1, I soft dnf’d. But I grew to love these characters so much, and I shed tears multiple times during this book. It really just needed a minute to cook!! The characters ended up being so complex and multi-dimensional—personally, I love a series with a complex villain. I hate when they’re evil just for the sake of being evil!! I feel like Bane and Jessina’s motivations just made them that much better. The found family in this was incredible—I cared about the side characters so much even though this was single POV, which I feel can be hard to accomplish. When I started this book, I was wondering how all the various plot lines would be wrapped up, but the author addressed everything I feel like. This was a great finale and I’m so glad I read this.

[Krissi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I rated all other books in this series 4 to 5 stars and overall I really enjoyed this series. I loved the characters, the couples etc. Unfortunately I couldn't get into this book as much and I was close to DNFing several times.

The good
- Orion!!!! He's the best character in this last book honestly
- Orion & Isera getting together and being fated mates
- Lyra & Alistair getting together
- Draven and Orion's bromance
- The happy ending

The issues I had
- it was soooo repetitive
- the whole addiction storyline took up way too much time
- the memory loss was dealt with so quickly it felt entirely unnecessary
- We go from battle to talking about addiction to battle to addiction...
- the story just wasn't impactful


I feel like this book would have benefited greatly from multiple POVs because then we could have actually gotten more out of the other relationships developing and not just Selena watching them admit their feelings and we would have had to deal less with Selena's feelings and repetitive thoughts.

While this book wasn't my favourite, I still recommend the whole series.

[Khadija Salman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I skimmed this to read what happens with Isera and Orion. Glad they ended up together. Don’t really care if everyone else ended up dead or in a ditch.

[Cassidy Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

my silly little spicy dragon books are done :( was this a stellar piece of literature? no. was it my least favorite in the series? yes. but i love draven and the found family in this. selena’s addict shit was getting on my nerves though

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

so the end was a bit of a let down but oh well still a super quick easy series to follow

[mads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this series (even the ending which I’m also super critical of for some reason)

It was SO easy to consume, kept you on your toes, was super fast paced but still had a full detailed plot (that was easy to follow cause it constantly introduced new things throughout instead of all at once) ugh I just had so much fun reading this

*I was also mid mental breakdown so likeeeeee easy was good and everything I needed rn*

[Leah Desjardins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great final instalment to this series.

We pick up essentially where we left off last time, and as surprising as birds with wings, Bane and Jessina are absolutely ruthless and crazy smart. How they manage to outmanoeuvre everyone 99% of the time is bananas. If you didn’t hate them and think they were absolute scummy loser bags before, you certainly will now.

They make the term ubervillains look like teletubbies in comparison. I wish I could tell you that they have very long, drawn out comeuppances, buuuut I can’t. I won’t be spoiling anything here plot wise, but I don’t know if anything would have felt like enough from everything they did to entire races.

A lot of great things happen here and the pacing in this book is way better than the previous one. The plot advances here and keeps up at a steady pace. We get reunited with some of our old favourites and we get to have DRALENA back in full swing, giving absolute perfection.

I love the storylines that we got for Lyra, Alistair, Orion, Isera, Draven and Galen. To be honest, at times the whole Selena struggles with her magic addiction issues storyline did kind of get annoying but we do at least get some progress there and the end result is good and will have you feeling some type of way.

I think the only thing that could have made this better would be to have an epilogue that showed more of what life was like after everything, but it was still mostly satisfying. No loose ends are left and overall I was happy with this and how everything ended.

Draven and Orion are honestly just chefs kiss. There’s just something about a male main character written by a woman that just has you melting like the a candle once it’s been lit.

4.5⭐️
3🌶️

[ciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

“if it’s a choice between you and the world, i choose you every single time.”

—

this was a good conclusion to a fun, fast paced romantasy series!! i do however really wish this series had been dual or multi pov at times. there are so many good side characters and romances and i would’ve loved to be in their heads while those moments were playing out.

draven. mf. ryat. that is all.

selena was a little unhinged in this one and some of her choices felt repetitive, but with everything she was dealing with (the trauma, the addiction, etc) it made sense for where she was mentally.

this book is VERY battle heavy. like there is no peace for a solid 80% of it lol. it’s basically chaos the entire time.

orion and isera my LOVES. i would read an entire spin off about them. their banter??? elite. and orion’s insecurity in this book actually hurt my feelings. i wanted to cry for him. i’m so glad it played out the way it did. alistair and lyra were also such a good balance. she really brings him out of his shell and i loved their dynamic.

the found family is what really makes this series. it’s a group of people who either forgot how to love or never really had it, and watching them build something real together was my favorite part.

these books are 100% about the vibes and the ride. they’re dramatic, romantic, chaotic, and just so much fun. such a good romantasy series for someone new to the genre or anyone who wants something fast and addictive.

“𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅. 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒅.”

[Becca Gresham · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed this final book at 25%.

Overall, I found this series is just too surface level. Would recommend this to someone getting into romantasy, but not someone who prefers something more high fantasy.

This book specifically, was just too repetitive. The pacing was too much, I felt like we just skimmed over the events of the end of book 4: Selena and Draven barely even looked at each other for the first 70 pages, then were separated (again) while Selena was sent to find some monk like dragons. By page 120 we were already on the second “battle” with the Icehearts, probably the 10th in the series, for them to once again, get away. Not to mention Selena’s complaining about her magic addiction every other sentence.

It takes a lot for me to DNF, so it speaks volumes that I did just that to the 5th and final book in a series. Just over it and could not imagine 400 more pages of the same plot we have been reading since book 2.

[ᴏɢɪᴍᴀᴀᴋᴡᴇ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a single crumb was left. I DEVOURED this series. Absolutely 5 ⭐️ series overall. All of my favorite tropes came out to play. Please read it! It was a good fucking time.

SPOILER AHEAD




Miss Marion…..I NEED TO KNOW IF THEY FIND THE GRAY CLAN!!!

[Erika ♥OwlwaysReading♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is next level! Every freaking book is fantastic. Absolute perfection!!!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this series! Some parts seemed a little bit repetitive at times.

Overall I think this book wrapped up the series very well. The questions I had were all answered.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ✨

Overall, this was an okay book to finish such a fantastic series. However, did I love it as much as the first four books? Unfortunately, no.

The biggest issue for me was how repetitive the story felt. Certain scenes and conflicts seemed to play out in almost the same way multiple times, which made parts of the book drag. I found myself bored.

That said, I absolutely loved the side characters and I was completely invested in them. Orion, Isera, Alistair, and Lyra were easily the highlights for me. Honestly, I wish we had chapters from their POVs. I also loved the found family aspect throughout this book, it was incredibly wholesome.

Again, this was an okay book. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it, it was just okay. The previous four books in the series were great so will I still recommend this series? Absolutely.

[Haley Dunn-McKinney]

I need book 5 now! Ahhh I am so excited about this release

[cátia · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh the ending oh noooooooo im so sad i miss them all so much already!!!!! selena draven isera lyra alistair galen orion ugh these characters become family to each other and to me and i love them all with all my heart!! this one was wild and it was SO DAMN GOOD, book four wasn't really my fave but still amazing obviously but this one went beck to be even more fantastic and action packed and emotional and wholesome and EVERYTHING I loved it so much, the final battle was definitely frustrating and captivating and there's always something happening and got me attention noatter what, i was at the edge of my seat i mean just amazing!!! selena my baby boo my badass woman who grow so damn much, was dealing with a lot, i loved she finally confessed to draven what she was dealing with and finally let him help her the best way he could, even tho orion had to "force" her in a way but at end she was just afraid to be the weal link in their group and she wanted to be someone strong and to fully help draven for him to lean on her and not really the other way around but they can lean on each other, they can look after each other together and they are stronger for it and i loved it truly!! draven that man is so underrated as a book boyfriend and i love them deeply definitely a top fave character for me, he's caring he loves deeply, he can be monstrous and at the same time funny and kind, he can be a big grumpy man when he wants to but he will protect those he cares about no matter what and i love him, the love he also has for selena and selena for him it's soooooooo ugh i just there's not enough words to describe it, they are everything and im already miss them!!!
the other side characters and their development and romance were done so well too, it took them awhile to get there, to finally accept the other and admit they love each other but when we get it??? yes its magical and i loved every single scene and moment, lyra and alistair were more soft and funny and so sweet, then orion and isera were wild and chaos and flirty and so hot ehehe different but equally beautiful and wholesome i love them too then galen was a supporting friend to them all and i loved him!!
overall it was such a good ending to this series, we got the final battle we see them after and happy and all so it was a rollercoaster of emotions and i loved every single thing like ugh im going to miss this world and these characters so much!? can marion do like a second gen?? no? just an idea i could love to see these characters older and with a family and see their kids or something idk i love second generations sooo but yeah if you haven't read this series go now it's complete and it's not only about getting freedom and fighting for freedom but also about the connections they create along the way, about finding yourself after so much trauma and sadness, is about also growing and be the better version of yourselves and to try and don't lose it because of the bad in this world, it's about these complex characters who went through hell and fought their way up and together tried to be better and sometimes it worked , other times it didn't but they had each other and their loved ones that they got along the way to help them so loved this series with all my heart and this family they got, wasn't by blood but it's still so strong and beautiful!!! also the villains were bad obviously but they also went through hell too just lost their way and yeah i hated them so much but these characters could easily become them and you see their battles with it and it's so emotional to see them fight that too and im so happy they finally get their happy ending, it was truly a whole big complicated ride but amazing too!!

[Bryaune Reid · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️ because I have to put something 😒

I finished this purely because I don’t like DNFing a series and I was sucked in after the plot twist at the end of book 1. The author’s writing is incredibly juvenile, it lacks the eloquence and depth that you expect at this level of writing. If I read one more sentence ending in “as well” or using “insane” as an adjective for everything, I would’ve thrown my kindle through a window. I spent my entire time editing the book so that it made sense as I was reading. Also, not every event that took place in this series needs to be explained in full detail every time it is mentioned in the book, as if we don’t remember. WE WERE THERE. I don’t need a full recap! If you take out all the unnecessary fluff, run on sentences, and repetitive statements, this series could have been a trilogy, maybe even a duology. Five books is WILD.

This book in particular was atrocious. It dragged on forever. The writing was the worst of the 5 books and if we took out all the things Selena repeated every other paragraph, it would probably be just a couple hundred pages long. The battle alone could’ve been cut down to a paragraph.

Also, you mean to tell me in the span of FIVE BOOKS we could not have a single other POV besides the FMC???!! Why are we watching Isera and Orion have an intimate conversation through Selena’s POV while she’s HIDING IN THE BUSHES?!?! Or the entire scene between Isera and Orion at the end?? 2 separate relationships blossoming between side characters and we can’t get a single chapter from their POV?! That alone would’ve elevated this book an extra star. I think that just further proves that the author doesn’t have the ability to write with any depth.

Selena as an FMC was incredibly annoying, immature, and self-loathing and it was at its peak in this book. Her self-loathing took up the majority of this book and it was PAINFUL. Even when other characters were sharing their feelings and struggles, we still have to listen to her talk about what she went through over and over and over. Most of the book was taken up by her whining and having breakdowns. Girl we’re preparing for war, we do NOT have time for your constant self-loathing?! It was so frustrating; that alone made me almost DNF multiple times. She had the potential for tremendous character development and the author just did not deliver.

Delving more into Isera + Orion and Alistair + Lyra would’ve brought some life to this book. Their side banter is the only thing that kept me going. I’m glad everyone was happy in the end, but I was not. I barely made it through.

[Shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟.. I will admit that I had my doubts about this one. I will say I did enjoyed this book so much more than they last one. I felt like the Selena was more confident in this one. It was nice to see her grow and let go of all the self doubt. Draven was Draven as usual. Isera and Orion, I just love them down! When Orion received that special gift from the Mother Dryad, I cried for him. I'm also glad Isera and Selena received the closure they needed. Overall I enjoyed this series.