I feel like a piece of me just died...
Seriously, I was so swept away with everything going down with Jack, Laurel, and Isaac that my brain would wander back to them hours or even days after reading each book. They are the type of characters that consume you, and just when you think you have this all figured out—when you're secure in your belief that THIS is how it's going to end and you can rest easy knowing it's all packed away with a pretty red bow—BAM! Cassia hits you with an uppercut you never saw coming.
At least, that's how I felt.
In Dirt, she introduced three characters you either couldn't help but love or you absolutely loved to hate. It was an appetizer that made your mouth water, made you hunger for more, and just when you thought the waiter was about to wheel out the main course, everything turns black and the Closed sign snaps down on the window, leaving you bereaved and mourning the loss of this beautiful meal you were just beginning to savor.
Then, you get yourself pumped up for Seed, and you think, “Yup. I've got this one nailed down. In the bag. This is how it's gonna go down.” And of course, you're wrong, as usual. It's filling, it staved off your hunger for a bit, but this entree just didn't cut it for you, because now you're hooked. Now, if someone doesn't stop you, you could easily gorge yourself in hopes that you'll be able to fill that void, that one empty spot left unfilled.
But! There's still hope! Because lo and behold, book three is going to come along and you're FINALLY going to devour that rich dessert that's beckoning you with the dark chocolate drizzle that's just-this-side-of-pretentious and the bright green garnish that you have no idea why they include but you'd probably gripe about if it wasn't there—all this is leading you down a path, and at the end of that magical brick road is the happily ever after you've been lusting after for so many weeks. It is. You know it. You've been promised that HEA! It's rightfully yours!
So, hesitant, hopeful, a little on edge, you open Bloom, and immediately know this is going to be different. The tone, the subtle hint of change on the air, it all lends to something that unfolds quite beautifully, because it changes everything—including your opinions on things such as love, marriage, loyalty, and it even gives you a deeper understanding of grief and how it changes you.
By the time you're knee deep in this emotional turbulence, you've invested so much time knowing exactly what you want out of this book series, and you're pretty f'n certain you know where this is headed, but OF FRIGGIN' COURSE YOU DON'T, because it's Cassia and Cassia is queen and you're nothing but a disillusioned peasant mourning the loss of the HEA you dreamed of but never received, even while reveling in this surprising, satisfying, and ultimately perfect ending that you know couldn't have been told by anyone else on earth except Cassia.