What do you think?
Rate this book
A Forgery of Magic #3
Lucero
The thrilling finale to the #1 Sunday Times and Los Angeles Times bestselling Nocturna trilogy—a sweeping and epic Dominican-inspired fantasy about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must save their kingdom in the final battle between good and evil magic. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Sabaa Tahir, and Roseanne A. Brown.
In the aftermath of Sombra’s return, the balance between light and dark magic has been destroyed and chaos has broken out in Castallan and around the world. Sombra’s shadows have taken over to create monstrous versions of everyone Finn and Alfie love, and with war between Castallan and Englass looming, the prince and the thief must band together one last time—to save their entire world.
To stop the magical imbalance, they must find the stone relics of Sombra’s body before the god can unite the pieces and regain his full strengthonce more.
But the laws of magic no longer apply, and with their own magic—and even the laws of time itself—drastically changing at every turn, Finn and Alfie are left on their own to stop Sombra and fulfill their prophecy before it is too late and the darkness reigns.
Will they restore balance to their world or will its light be gone forever?
In the aftermath of Sombra’s return, the balance between light and dark magic has been destroyed and chaos has broken out in Castallan and around the world. Sombra’s shadows have taken over to create monstrous versions of everyone Finn and Alfie love, and with war between Castallan and Englass looming, the prince and the thief must band together one last time—to save their entire world.
To stop the magical imbalance, they must find the stone relics of Sombra’s body before the god can unite the pieces and regain his full strengthonce more.
But the laws of magic no longer apply, and with their own magic—and even the laws of time itself—drastically changing at every turn, Finn and Alfie are left on their own to stop Sombra and fulfill their prophecy before it is too late and the darkness reigns.
Will they restore balance to their world or will its light be gone forever?
426 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 26, 2023
19 people are currently reading
5969 people want to read
About the author
Maya Motayne
6 books647 followersMaya Motayne decided to be a writer when she was four years old and hasn’t stopped writing since. She lives in New York City where she pursues her passions of petting as many dogs as possible and buying purses based on whether or not they can fit a big book in them. Nocturna is her first novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 3, 2024
Feel like the author has a personal vendetta against Alfie bc why can't my boy catch a break the entire book 😭 and the end?? I can't
Props the best installment of the trilogy
Props the best installment of the trilogy
January 3, 2024
What a beautiful way to wrap things up. Incredible continued world building, good callbacks, ACTUAL stakes with REAL consequences. Sincere character development. Mwah, exquisite
February 23, 2024
Honestly I really liked the series but the ending knocked all of the other stars off. Like. What. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the series. One of my favs. But the ending. I’m ready to either rewrite it for myself or just delusion myself into believing something else.
Spoilers ahead. I warned you.
What I especially didn’t like was that why did Alfie have to become immortal?? There was no reason for him to become immortal except that he was the fated one or whatever. She just slapped on a really dumb reason, didn’t care if it worked, because she wanted the ending to be in a specific sort of way. She should’ve put more emphasis on the immortality, I mean it a huge thing to become immortal. Everyone you love will die and you will keep loving new people and then they’ll die again. I get it that Alfie was “too tired of fighting.” But we didn’t even get to see how he reacted to it. Just UUUGGHHHHH. You can tell she just wanted to be done with it. The ending felt underwhelming especially compared to the second book. I think becasue the whole third book was really high stress that the ending felt undeserving (I DID cry when Alfie and Dezmin had that moment and later when he died). And I also didn’t like the epilogue but maybe that’s just a personal thing. I was super offended when Alfie thought back to Finn and Luka and was like “their deaths didn’t hurt that much anymore” and I do get it but I was still very highly offended on Finns part lmao. If I ignore the epilogue and that immortality part it would’ve been a solid 4 stars.
Spoilers ahead. I warned you.
What I especially didn’t like was that why did Alfie have to become immortal?? There was no reason for him to become immortal except that he was the fated one or whatever. She just slapped on a really dumb reason, didn’t care if it worked, because she wanted the ending to be in a specific sort of way. She should’ve put more emphasis on the immortality, I mean it a huge thing to become immortal. Everyone you love will die and you will keep loving new people and then they’ll die again. I get it that Alfie was “too tired of fighting.” But we didn’t even get to see how he reacted to it. Just UUUGGHHHHH. You can tell she just wanted to be done with it. The ending felt underwhelming especially compared to the second book. I think becasue the whole third book was really high stress that the ending felt undeserving (I DID cry when Alfie and Dezmin had that moment and later when he died). And I also didn’t like the epilogue but maybe that’s just a personal thing. I was super offended when Alfie thought back to Finn and Luka and was like “their deaths didn’t hurt that much anymore” and I do get it but I was still very highly offended on Finns part lmao. If I ignore the epilogue and that immortality part it would’ve been a solid 4 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2024
Ugh, this really lived up to what I wanted out of the series. Read the book in 6 hours and was gripped the whole time. I didn’t think I was going to get my first 5 star read on the second day of 2024 but wow.
January 23, 2024
Why does this keep getting moved back?! You’re killing me here…
I had to wait almost 3 years for this?! I don’t even know with that ending…
I had to wait almost 3 years for this?! I don’t even know with that ending…
September 27, 2024
Chciałam dać 4 gwiazdki, ale kompletnie nie jestem fanką tego zakończenia.
January 30, 2025
What a book.
I'd change somethings, but not enough to make me give last than 5 stars.
I'd change somethings, but not enough to make me give last than 5 stars.
January 12, 2025
I really liked Finn and Alfie's character growth in this book, especially as they learned how to navigate their relationship and care for each other in a more selfless manner, respecting the other's needs and letting them reveal things at their own pace, rather than each character focusing primarily on their own wants.
This book has a lot of beautifully thoughtful moments, but also a few wonderfully humorous little turns of phrases like "the layers of a chaos onion," and I appreciated both of these aspects.
The plot of this book brings a lot of attention to the question, "What does darkness look like, and how might that be different for different people?" In many books where a dark force is unleashed on the world, those affected by it become selfish and violent, starting fights and stealing things. And while plenty of that happens here, there are those affected by Sombra who do not react in this way, but differently. It seems that Sombra's darkness doesn't change people into entirely different beings, but amplifies the dark thoughts inside them, whether those are motivated by selfishness, lust, fear, anger, or something else. And as such, it speaks to the variety and complexity of dark thoughts that humans as a whole try to overcome, those things that invade our minds seemingly out of nowhere at our worst moments. Yet because these thoughts were not acted upon here until a dark god forced it, at the same time it is a reminder that the worst bits of us do not define us so long as we do not let them control us.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. However, I was not a fan of the ending. It was pretty bittersweet, and I wanted a more straightforwardly happy ending. Apart from the ending though, I thought this book was very good, and I am glad to have read this series.
This book has a lot of beautifully thoughtful moments, but also a few wonderfully humorous little turns of phrases like "the layers of a chaos onion," and I appreciated both of these aspects.
The plot of this book brings a lot of attention to the question, "What does darkness look like, and how might that be different for different people?" In many books where a dark force is unleashed on the world, those affected by it become selfish and violent, starting fights and stealing things. And while plenty of that happens here, there are those affected by Sombra who do not react in this way, but differently. It seems that Sombra's darkness doesn't change people into entirely different beings, but amplifies the dark thoughts inside them, whether those are motivated by selfishness, lust, fear, anger, or something else. And as such, it speaks to the variety and complexity of dark thoughts that humans as a whole try to overcome, those things that invade our minds seemingly out of nowhere at our worst moments. Yet because these thoughts were not acted upon here until a dark god forced it, at the same time it is a reminder that the worst bits of us do not define us so long as we do not let them control us.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. However, I was not a fan of the ending. It was pretty bittersweet, and I wanted a more straightforwardly happy ending. Apart from the ending though, I thought this book was very good, and I am glad to have read this series.
February 28, 2024
It's been over two full years since Motayne published the second book of this trilogy, but I'm very glad that she got the chance to publish the whole series, because it's truly one of the most underrated in the YA sphere. While the first book and especially the second book dealt a lot with colonialism and its effects on linguistically attuned magic in universe, the diabolical cliffhanger ending of Oculta ensured that this book would have a wider focus on saving the world - and especially the diabolical first chapter of near instantaneous mass murder on Sombra's part. In order to defeat Sombra, Finn and Alfie and even Luka and James have to figure out a way to travel to all the other countries in Mundo - the Scandinavian inspired Uppskala, Nigerian inspired Ygosi, and Chinese inspired Weilai (named Mirai in earlier books, but I see Motayne decided to change that since the original name was more Japanese) - to recover all the missing parts of Sombra. Because the biggest challenge is that in order to defeat Sombra, Sombra's gotta be made whole. Not gonna be easy, is it? But our heroes are as up to the challenge as you might expect, and while I can imagine the epilogue pisses a few fans off (Motayne said she wrote it very early in her process for this whole trilogy), I'd say it's as excellent an adiós as this series deserves.
January 1, 2025
Really liked.. but disappointed in the final final outcome.. but that’s me being a romantic ;;))
January 28, 2024
It just so happened that I read the Song of the Last Kingdom series by Amelie Wen Zhao right before I read this series, and I couldn't help compare them for broadly, some very similar tropes and themes. Magic wielders fighting against colonial/imperial forces that reawaken dark gods from the in-world cultural mythos. Main heroes fighting against inner demons (often literally) and making very questionable decisions. A threaded theme of anti-imperial/colonial resistance. I just happen to think the Song of the Last Kingdom did it so much better.
I'll be reviewing the whole series here. I think the first book definitely had promise, and the Dominican-inspired world was quite interesting. Unfortunately, the Dominican inspiration often feels very surface level, with lots of Spanish lingo and what I assume is possibly some references to Dominican Taino mythos , maybe? (Tainos are the indigenous people of the Dominican Republic, I think, I don't know). Regardless, the stuff it's inspired by is often difficult to figure out so I feel like I didn't learn anything about Dominican culture. That's not to say that's the book's job, but because it's not drawing attention to anything besides Spanish words, it often fails to have a flavor to it besides Finn, the main female heroine, throwing out Spanish cusses.
Second, I think the fundamental conflict of the books, the Sombra dark magic force, felt very unrealized and very one-dimensional. Its usage in the third book as a way for the characters to be introspective about their sources of shame was alright, but I feel like you could substitute it with any dark magic force and it wouldn't feel that different. Compare it to the Song of the Last Kingdom which I feel fleshed out its Demon Gods much better (and in less books!)
Third, the characters. Agh, the characters. Perhaps as I get older I find characters like Finn and Alfie less badass and more annoying and insufferable. Typical tropes like not communicating, trying to solve world-ending problems on your own, endless pining for no reason, I guess wore on me more here. It took so long, and for what? Finn's background and relationship with her father Ignacio was interesting enough, but I think because (spoiler for book 1 I guess) Sombra took over her father's body so quickly, the relationship became very flat and uninteresting. I liked that Dezmin had a much bigger role in the story, as I predicted he might, and I think his relationship with Alfie threaded through the entire story, managed to be probably the best part of the story. Finn just became insufferably rude for no reason (I think there's a sharp line between being a girlboss/don't take any shit and tactlessly rude).
Alfie. Oh my god Alfie. Such a terrible character, I didn't like him at all from book 2-3. The story is set off by his one terrible decision in book 1. I really despise that the books later rationalized that as "prophesized" instead of allowing it to be a deep character flaw.
The Song of the Last Kingdom grapples with the reality of having terrible options, about being born into a place where you feel like you have nothing, are never going to get anything, and are always at the knees of forces oppressing and pushing against you. The choices the characters make are real and condemned (Zen in particular). Its clear the choices are wrong, and we are left with deeply human characters who I found super compelling.
In these books, Alfie makes a terrible, though understandable, decision. I think the narrative alone feels as if his heroics make it all okay. And this is where I have to talk about the anti-colonial narrative.
Straight off the bat, it's evidently based off the Spanish and Dominican Republic colonial history. The Englass are white Europeans and it's not subtle. In the Song of the Last Kingdom, it's imperial Chinese forces versus what I interpret as ethnic minorities.
I think when threading themes of anti-colonialsm, it should be done right with some degree of subtlety. This book does none of that. The second book, whereas the first didn't really deal with this topic as much, decides to center around this theme. And when it comes to Alfie, who is a prince, it feels particularly distasteful for him to go on rants about oppression. Throughout the books, he constantly is confronted with real problems his own kingdom is going through, and his thought is always "when I AM king, this won't happen", failing to see the systemic problems relating to the plight of the poor people (and for some reason his relationship with Finn only gives him a surface level recognition of their plight, we only see him recognize the equality of his own life to the life of a poor child, but failing to recognize broader issues with his own monarchical status). I was waiting, just WAITING, for the series to pull a, now we're a democracy, card which lots of books pull at the end, and frankly, I thought would happen here. I think my problem with Alfie is that his immense wealth and privilege makes his rants about oppression feel hollow, especially when he is the main person responsible for the entire antagonist of the series. In addition, his decision, as the story tells us, disproportionally affected and killed the poor people in his country as the kingdom didn't understand or recognize the threat in book 1 for so long because it was happening in poor class areas.
It feels equally hollow to then make his saving "prophesized" considering just how destructive it was to his kingdom. For all the plights of the poor, the story never centers their story, and once Finn is in the mix, we never return to it. During the story everytime he would realize a problem in his own country, I was waiting for at the end him to have that Taylor Swift anti-hero moment "I'm the problem, it's me!" But he never did. And in the end, what did his newfound realizations do? He opened some non-profits? Funded some education? For a character to so strongly denounce past imperialism and yet to be the person to be the central reinforcer of continued injustice is just... a choice.
There is a large gap between the first and second book, and I think that to make us sympathize with him, he constantly is dealt bad hands, which I sympathize with, but I think that he really fails to own up to the mistakes he made, and the narrative never forces him to in a way the Song of the Last Kingdom does, and it constantly tries to rationalize his choices rather than allowing him to be fundamentally flawed.
Like Finn, he also lacks any tact which would make him a good king (I think that because the book decides to bring politics into the second book, we can talk about that). I've read books with worse, less woke/less self-aware princes/kings, but I think for a book like this to be attempting to preach to the masses about anti-imperialism some how still lacks any self-awareness about Alfie and his position. Instead, he sulks around for lots of book 2, is repeatedly tactless in foreign negotiations and with politicians and noblemen, and is generally awful to Luka and Finn. Also, the conflict between Englass and his kingdom was a lot more interesting than Sombra, but it fails to have really meant anything. The third book plucks any meaning or resonance behind what happened in book 2 by reverting to the Sombra storyline. I also think that by failing to really humanize the Englass people, the book crashes in its attempt to have anything meaningful to say about anti-colonialism or the way imperialism even centuries later can have an effect on people (James is maybe the only exception and making him a servant is a cop out). Alife in the second book is constantly lambasted by anti-Englass propaganda, but his responses always feel dry. I find Vesper's attempt to connect with Alfie an unintentional mirror to himself. He constantly lambasts her for her insensitive remarks about her country's past occupation of his own, yet still the narrative constantly deflects from any real attention or introspection on his part in all of it.
*** Spoilers for book 3*** find conclusion at the bottom
I have mixed feelings about the ending. I really didn't like the epilogue and I really didn't like what happened with Alfie becoming immortal. Like what was the purpose? If I'm doing the thinking for them, then maybe he's now immortal because he made a mistake that now has infinite time to make up for, which could be poetic, but the story never draws these lines or parallels. He's just immortal. I guess maybe, the narrative tries to frame it as his worst nightmare, that it's something he doesn't want and is now a punishment. If that's true, the story did an awful job of setting it up or paying it off. We get a few pages at the very end where he's at all introspective about what truly means for him. We get broadstrokes in the epilogue about what he did, but we get no details or idea about what he would actually do with so much time. Also, becoming immortal also felt so out of left field from any established lore in the story? Like what? I also think that him being the one to live forever feels like a slap in the face to all the innocent characters his actions killed. I do think there is a line between sympathetic and flawed characters and ones that are just incompetent and the narrative unduly rewards, and I think this is the case of the latter. (In the case of Song of the Last Kingdom, I found it to be heartbreaking in its realness, it doesn't smother the tragedy and it finds justice in the main character's mistakes and terrible decisions, and I honestly almost cried while reading its final chapters.) In this case, I just was scratching my head about how the narrative led us here and what it had to say about its characters now. (also the fact that Alfie does live so long and still the kingdom never becomes more democratic???, like what?)
The story also bypasses and runs through any rebuilding of the country, the complicated relationship between Englass and Castallan. As someone with a degree in international relations, I always find "country A bad, country B good" and "war over, we install nobles who do our bidding" to be at worst, demonstrably naive and at best, laughable. Maybe it's just the Game of Thrones side of my brain, but I do think when you make big choices and decide to try to tackle big topics (like imperialism) and try to have big stuff to say about it, you need to do it with better diligence.
******** SPOILERS OVER **********
In conclusion, I think this series had some interesting ideas but ultimately failed to follow through or have anything meaningful to say about its themes, in addition to having us follow some truly awful characters, which the narrative rewarded at the expense of any tension or real character development. I was inching so badly to finish it so I could move on.
I'll be reviewing the whole series here. I think the first book definitely had promise, and the Dominican-inspired world was quite interesting. Unfortunately, the Dominican inspiration often feels very surface level, with lots of Spanish lingo and what I assume is possibly some references to Dominican Taino mythos , maybe? (Tainos are the indigenous people of the Dominican Republic, I think, I don't know). Regardless, the stuff it's inspired by is often difficult to figure out so I feel like I didn't learn anything about Dominican culture. That's not to say that's the book's job, but because it's not drawing attention to anything besides Spanish words, it often fails to have a flavor to it besides Finn, the main female heroine, throwing out Spanish cusses.
Second, I think the fundamental conflict of the books, the Sombra dark magic force, felt very unrealized and very one-dimensional. Its usage in the third book as a way for the characters to be introspective about their sources of shame was alright, but I feel like you could substitute it with any dark magic force and it wouldn't feel that different. Compare it to the Song of the Last Kingdom which I feel fleshed out its Demon Gods much better (and in less books!)
Third, the characters. Agh, the characters. Perhaps as I get older I find characters like Finn and Alfie less badass and more annoying and insufferable. Typical tropes like not communicating, trying to solve world-ending problems on your own, endless pining for no reason, I guess wore on me more here. It took so long, and for what? Finn's background and relationship with her father Ignacio was interesting enough, but I think because (spoiler for book 1 I guess) Sombra took over her father's body so quickly, the relationship became very flat and uninteresting. I liked that Dezmin had a much bigger role in the story, as I predicted he might, and I think his relationship with Alfie threaded through the entire story, managed to be probably the best part of the story. Finn just became insufferably rude for no reason (I think there's a sharp line between being a girlboss/don't take any shit and tactlessly rude).
Alfie. Oh my god Alfie. Such a terrible character, I didn't like him at all from book 2-3. The story is set off by his one terrible decision in book 1. I really despise that the books later rationalized that as "prophesized" instead of allowing it to be a deep character flaw.
The Song of the Last Kingdom grapples with the reality of having terrible options, about being born into a place where you feel like you have nothing, are never going to get anything, and are always at the knees of forces oppressing and pushing against you. The choices the characters make are real and condemned (Zen in particular). Its clear the choices are wrong, and we are left with deeply human characters who I found super compelling.
In these books, Alfie makes a terrible, though understandable, decision. I think the narrative alone feels as if his heroics make it all okay. And this is where I have to talk about the anti-colonial narrative.
Straight off the bat, it's evidently based off the Spanish and Dominican Republic colonial history. The Englass are white Europeans and it's not subtle. In the Song of the Last Kingdom, it's imperial Chinese forces versus what I interpret as ethnic minorities.
I think when threading themes of anti-colonialsm, it should be done right with some degree of subtlety. This book does none of that. The second book, whereas the first didn't really deal with this topic as much, decides to center around this theme. And when it comes to Alfie, who is a prince, it feels particularly distasteful for him to go on rants about oppression. Throughout the books, he constantly is confronted with real problems his own kingdom is going through, and his thought is always "when I AM king, this won't happen", failing to see the systemic problems relating to the plight of the poor people (and for some reason his relationship with Finn only gives him a surface level recognition of their plight, we only see him recognize the equality of his own life to the life of a poor child, but failing to recognize broader issues with his own monarchical status). I was waiting, just WAITING, for the series to pull a, now we're a democracy, card which lots of books pull at the end, and frankly, I thought would happen here. I think my problem with Alfie is that his immense wealth and privilege makes his rants about oppression feel hollow, especially when he is the main person responsible for the entire antagonist of the series. In addition, his decision, as the story tells us, disproportionally affected and killed the poor people in his country as the kingdom didn't understand or recognize the threat in book 1 for so long because it was happening in poor class areas.
It feels equally hollow to then make his saving "prophesized" considering just how destructive it was to his kingdom. For all the plights of the poor, the story never centers their story, and once Finn is in the mix, we never return to it. During the story everytime he would realize a problem in his own country, I was waiting for at the end him to have that Taylor Swift anti-hero moment "I'm the problem, it's me!" But he never did. And in the end, what did his newfound realizations do? He opened some non-profits? Funded some education? For a character to so strongly denounce past imperialism and yet to be the person to be the central reinforcer of continued injustice is just... a choice.
There is a large gap between the first and second book, and I think that to make us sympathize with him, he constantly is dealt bad hands, which I sympathize with, but I think that he really fails to own up to the mistakes he made, and the narrative never forces him to in a way the Song of the Last Kingdom does, and it constantly tries to rationalize his choices rather than allowing him to be fundamentally flawed.
Like Finn, he also lacks any tact which would make him a good king (I think that because the book decides to bring politics into the second book, we can talk about that). I've read books with worse, less woke/less self-aware princes/kings, but I think for a book like this to be attempting to preach to the masses about anti-imperialism some how still lacks any self-awareness about Alfie and his position. Instead, he sulks around for lots of book 2, is repeatedly tactless in foreign negotiations and with politicians and noblemen, and is generally awful to Luka and Finn. Also, the conflict between Englass and his kingdom was a lot more interesting than Sombra, but it fails to have really meant anything. The third book plucks any meaning or resonance behind what happened in book 2 by reverting to the Sombra storyline. I also think that by failing to really humanize the Englass people, the book crashes in its attempt to have anything meaningful to say about anti-colonialism or the way imperialism even centuries later can have an effect on people (James is maybe the only exception and making him a servant is a cop out). Alife in the second book is constantly lambasted by anti-Englass propaganda, but his responses always feel dry. I find Vesper's attempt to connect with Alfie an unintentional mirror to himself. He constantly lambasts her for her insensitive remarks about her country's past occupation of his own, yet still the narrative constantly deflects from any real attention or introspection on his part in all of it.
*** Spoilers for book 3*** find conclusion at the bottom
I have mixed feelings about the ending. I really didn't like the epilogue and I really didn't like what happened with Alfie becoming immortal. Like what was the purpose? If I'm doing the thinking for them, then maybe he's now immortal because he made a mistake that now has infinite time to make up for, which could be poetic, but the story never draws these lines or parallels. He's just immortal. I guess maybe, the narrative tries to frame it as his worst nightmare, that it's something he doesn't want and is now a punishment. If that's true, the story did an awful job of setting it up or paying it off. We get a few pages at the very end where he's at all introspective about what truly means for him. We get broadstrokes in the epilogue about what he did, but we get no details or idea about what he would actually do with so much time. Also, becoming immortal also felt so out of left field from any established lore in the story? Like what? I also think that him being the one to live forever feels like a slap in the face to all the innocent characters his actions killed. I do think there is a line between sympathetic and flawed characters and ones that are just incompetent and the narrative unduly rewards, and I think this is the case of the latter. (In the case of Song of the Last Kingdom, I found it to be heartbreaking in its realness, it doesn't smother the tragedy and it finds justice in the main character's mistakes and terrible decisions, and I honestly almost cried while reading its final chapters.) In this case, I just was scratching my head about how the narrative led us here and what it had to say about its characters now. (also the fact that Alfie does live so long and still the kingdom never becomes more democratic???, like what?)
The story also bypasses and runs through any rebuilding of the country, the complicated relationship between Englass and Castallan. As someone with a degree in international relations, I always find "country A bad, country B good" and "war over, we install nobles who do our bidding" to be at worst, demonstrably naive and at best, laughable. Maybe it's just the Game of Thrones side of my brain, but I do think when you make big choices and decide to try to tackle big topics (like imperialism) and try to have big stuff to say about it, you need to do it with better diligence.
******** SPOILERS OVER **********
In conclusion, I think this series had some interesting ideas but ultimately failed to follow through or have anything meaningful to say about its themes, in addition to having us follow some truly awful characters, which the narrative rewarded at the expense of any tension or real character development. I was inching so badly to finish it so I could move on.
October 4, 2025
"'The fate of the world rests in our hands,' Paloma said, and though Alfie already knew this, hearing it from her lips made it even more terrifying. 'The pressure is enormous; the amount of loss will be staggering. At some point, it will become unbearable. You will want to give up, to let Sombra win. But we are now responsible for the countless souls living in this world, and we don't get to give up and decide their fate because we're too tired, too sick, too lost. We do not make that choice for anyone. We are not Sombra.' She gripped his shoulder so hard that Alfie could feel it to the bone. 'When the time comes, when there is nothing left for you to give, I need you to stand up and fight regardless. Do you understand?'"
I absolutely hated this, 5 stars.
This book is an absolute masterpiece of a conclusion. Stunning character arcs, a beautiful call-back to the previous novels, and actual consequences to the actions characters make. I was crying, laughing, and everything in between. This will forever be one of my all-time favourite reads.
I absolutely hated this, 5 stars.
This book is an absolute masterpiece of a conclusion. Stunning character arcs, a beautiful call-back to the previous novels, and actual consequences to the actions characters make. I was crying, laughing, and everything in between. This will forever be one of my all-time favourite reads.
July 28, 2024
Loved reading this book, and oh, it was a fantastic end to the series!
November 23, 2024
*actual rating is 3.5 stars*
December 17, 2025
What an incredible end to a trilogy. Such a solid arc the whole way through. A little obvious at times in the sense that it really spells out a character's journey but done well where I want that bit of rambling in a YA.
A really great universe and magic structure. If you're looking for YA fantasy, this series goes to the top of my recommended.
A really great universe and magic structure. If you're looking for YA fantasy, this series goes to the top of my recommended.
January 3, 2024
An absolutely beautiful conclusion to the series. I cried. I cried so hard. And yet I loved it so much. Finn/Alfie forever, damn it!
April 12, 2025
3.5 stars
Okay so I kinda hate that ending 😭
Tbh I have a few things to say abt this book
Firstly one thing that no one in these reviews seems to be talking abt is how different this book is to the last😭💗 I get that it makes sense because the storyline changed drastically but I kinda felt like I had whiplash by how different it was! Although I guess that’s how it would feel for the characters too tbh
Also there was sooo much grief in this book :( it honestly felt like people were just dying left and right and all the main characters were going through it (they literally never got to mourn their dad and paloma also didn’t even get to her from her gf :( ). I really wished we could have seen a cute scene with Finn and Alfie’s mum :( I thought they might when she told her abt the cloak but they just brushed passed it in the last book.
Now that ending :(( honestly it all just felt so unsatisfying. They spent the whole book finding the relics just to realise that it was pointless, the fight scene at then end felt kinda rushed and then Alfie had such a bittersweet ending with no warning or even really good explanation, that didn’t feel satisfying or worth it at all :(( like yes he saw Finn reincarnate but he couldn’t even be a part of her life. In my opinion we also didn’t get enough scenes of them being happy and in love 🥲💗 I feel robbed 😭😭
3.5 stars for me 😭😭😭 I just feel like this could have been stretched out to be 2 books and the ending could have been happier and less sad.
Okay so I kinda hate that ending 😭
Tbh I have a few things to say abt this book
Firstly one thing that no one in these reviews seems to be talking abt is how different this book is to the last😭💗 I get that it makes sense because the storyline changed drastically but I kinda felt like I had whiplash by how different it was! Although I guess that’s how it would feel for the characters too tbh
Also there was sooo much grief in this book :( it honestly felt like people were just dying left and right and all the main characters were going through it (they literally never got to mourn their dad and paloma also didn’t even get to her from her gf :( ). I really wished we could have seen a cute scene with Finn and Alfie’s mum :( I thought they might when she told her abt the cloak but they just brushed passed it in the last book.
Now that ending :(( honestly it all just felt so unsatisfying. They spent the whole book finding the relics just to realise that it was pointless, the fight scene at then end felt kinda rushed and then Alfie had such a bittersweet ending with no warning or even really good explanation, that didn’t feel satisfying or worth it at all :(( like yes he saw Finn reincarnate but he couldn’t even be a part of her life. In my opinion we also didn’t get enough scenes of them being happy and in love 🥲💗 I feel robbed 😭😭
3.5 stars for me 😭😭😭 I just feel like this could have been stretched out to be 2 books and the ending could have been happier and less sad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2025
This is the finale to the Nocturna trilogy, which I picked up because of the pretty covers. Yes, you heard me right (well, of course I read the blurb before buying the book!).
In this book, Sombra disturbed the balance between light and dark in the world by turning people against one another, families murdered each other, trees and animals whithered and died. Alfie and Finn embarked on a journey to restore the balance, while Luka and the Duenos tried to guard their city and palace.
Like the earlier books, this one is rather intense and dark. I had to stop reading after every few pages because I needed to take a breather. It is good that the chapters aren't long, hence it's easier to take a break. As dark as it is, it didn't give me nightmares like Nocturna (the first book) did.
The ending saw the characters sacrificing themselves for the future of the world. I don't want to spoil it, but it is not kind of ending that I'd prefer. However, I could see a lot of readers love the ending. I guess it's just me.
Overall I do love the series. If the author writes other YAs, I think I might get them.
In this book, Sombra disturbed the balance between light and dark in the world by turning people against one another, families murdered each other, trees and animals whithered and died. Alfie and Finn embarked on a journey to restore the balance, while Luka and the Duenos tried to guard their city and palace.
Like the earlier books, this one is rather intense and dark. I had to stop reading after every few pages because I needed to take a breather. It is good that the chapters aren't long, hence it's easier to take a break. As dark as it is, it didn't give me nightmares like Nocturna (the first book) did.
The ending saw the characters sacrificing themselves for the future of the world. I don't want to spoil it, but it is not kind of ending that I'd prefer. However, I could see a lot of readers love the ending. I guess it's just me.
Overall I do love the series. If the author writes other YAs, I think I might get them.
June 7, 2024
This is book 3 in a series that needs to go in order. I was reading well into the night and thinking about the characters when I was doing other things. The ending was satisfying and nothing I expected, which is refreshing.
January 15, 2024
Okay but it really didn't have to end like that. 3.5
December 30, 2023
4.5 Stars. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great conclusion to a very interesting trilogy. I do have some complaints, like how there was a lot of repetition throughout the book; of the same metaphors, the same quotes the characters said only a few chapters ago, and the same internal revelations. I also wish the book would have explained exactly what it means for Dezmin and Alfie becoming the gods of light and dark and their powers. Can they see one another? Why is Alfie the only god that seems to travel the surface world instead of hanging out in the heart of the world? Also, what does it mean for Dez and Alfie that they are not made of larimar like the other gods? In the epilogue, it said that Finn and Alfie had children, but she would disappear for long periods of time on relic-recovering adventures. Was she just leaving her children without their mother that entire time?
I do also have to share my praises; this was the fastest I have read a book in a long time, and it kept me engaged the entire time. The scene with Alfie asking permission to love Finn is so sweet. I almost cried multiple times because of how many loved ones the characters lost and how many different ways they were forced to confront their grief. Finn finally getting the carefree life she deserves after Alfie has made peace with his past is so beautifully sweet that I almost cried here too. The last lines about the future maybe having a new story for Alfie are so well crafted that I felt that surge of hope and possibility that I imagine Alfie felt. After a story filled with so much loss and devastation, I am really glad it ended on a positive, heartening, and peaceful note.
*The only reason I cannot give the book 5 stars is because of the numerous questions I have concerning Dez and Alfie’s godly status. It is a huge change to these characters that is not elaborated on at all.*
I would like to write a book one day that makes readers feel things deeply like Maya Motayne did with me.
I do also have to share my praises; this was the fastest I have read a book in a long time, and it kept me engaged the entire time. The scene with Alfie asking permission to love Finn is so sweet. I almost cried multiple times because of how many loved ones the characters lost and how many different ways they were forced to confront their grief. Finn finally getting the carefree life she deserves after Alfie has made peace with his past is so beautifully sweet that I almost cried here too. The last lines about the future maybe having a new story for Alfie are so well crafted that I felt that surge of hope and possibility that I imagine Alfie felt. After a story filled with so much loss and devastation, I am really glad it ended on a positive, heartening, and peaceful note.
*The only reason I cannot give the book 5 stars is because of the numerous questions I have concerning Dez and Alfie’s godly status. It is a huge change to these characters that is not elaborated on at all.*
I would like to write a book one day that makes readers feel things deeply like Maya Motayne did with me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 14, 2024okay u know what? that was great.
this captured the essence of what made nocturna so special; it was a high-stakes adventure story and finn and alfie were at the center of it all. although it could get confusing sometimes as it was hard to distinguish who was narrating, it was cool how different povs were integrated this time around.
i think it would've been awesome if the villain pov was pushed even further, since it was always notable there was a wall between him and his human vessel, but it was still handled well.
i think one of my main problems with the series as a whole is the tone. this could get very gruesome but the way it was written could be so lighthearted and it was extremely jarring and took me out of the story. i guess maybe it's because at the end of the day it's a YA series? but some more seriousness would've been nice.
i don't mind it but i could've done without the romance. regardless, it was developed decently enough. there was some good character development, but this story shines because of the plot. it doesn't push itself enough when it comes to its themes, but it's a fun time!
(oh and this tagline is actually accurate, we cheered!)
this captured the essence of what made nocturna so special; it was a high-stakes adventure story and finn and alfie were at the center of it all. although it could get confusing sometimes as it was hard to distinguish who was narrating, it was cool how different povs were integrated this time around.
i think it would've been awesome if the villain pov was pushed even further, since it was always notable there was a wall between him and his human vessel, but it was still handled well.
i think one of my main problems with the series as a whole is the tone. this could get very gruesome but the way it was written could be so lighthearted and it was extremely jarring and took me out of the story. i guess maybe it's because at the end of the day it's a YA series? but some more seriousness would've been nice.
i don't mind it but i could've done without the romance. regardless, it was developed decently enough. there was some good character development, but this story shines because of the plot. it doesn't push itself enough when it comes to its themes, but it's a fun time!
(oh and this tagline is actually accurate, we cheered!)
April 14, 2024
This was the last book in the series, but it wasn’t my favorite book of the series. Like many books, the ending was abrupt and things were glossed over pretty quickly, which I found unsatisfying. Finn and Alfie stay together, and then later, only in passing it is mentioned in one sentence that they had kids—with no details whatsoever. No names, no number of children, no nothing. And the same with Luca & James—they end up in ambassador type jobs, with no mention of their relationship again—after so much time is spent building it up in this last book… Finally, there’s no mention of Paloma or what happens to her. So it just ends with no real details, and that’s disappointing to me--having read all three books. I like the idea of the school and the later appearance of Finn reincarnated, but it was still underwhelming to me. After 3 books, that’s it? Overall, I found my self less engaged and less interested in this book than the first two, and this rushed ending was a bummer of sorts. I can’t give this last book more than 3 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2023
What I liked:
Lucero is everything I expected in a book about balancing dark and light and the results when things have gone to the extremely dark side of dark. The evilness that has seeped from Alfie releasing Sombra has returned to haunt in the worst way possible. It is breaking an epic quest, and the ending is heart-wrenching. I love the way the author gives us a glimpse of the future that occurs and shows us that warm feeling that all is well in the future.
Final Verdict:
Lucero, being the final book in this series, the characters grew a lot throughout the series as well as the author did, as she noted in her author note leaves at the end of the book. Some book series are released quickly, devoured just as swiftly, and forgotten on our shelves. A forgery of magic will not be overlooked. It has been a long time coming for the ending, but it is ending with lessons we all need to learn, and it is the perfect way to end 2023.
Lucero is everything I expected in a book about balancing dark and light and the results when things have gone to the extremely dark side of dark. The evilness that has seeped from Alfie releasing Sombra has returned to haunt in the worst way possible. It is breaking an epic quest, and the ending is heart-wrenching. I love the way the author gives us a glimpse of the future that occurs and shows us that warm feeling that all is well in the future.
Final Verdict:
Lucero, being the final book in this series, the characters grew a lot throughout the series as well as the author did, as she noted in her author note leaves at the end of the book. Some book series are released quickly, devoured just as swiftly, and forgotten on our shelves. A forgery of magic will not be overlooked. It has been a long time coming for the ending, but it is ending with lessons we all need to learn, and it is the perfect way to end 2023.
April 10, 2024
I think I'd probably give it 4.5 stars but I'm going to round up because I truly did love this book seties. I don't think the ending made a whole ton of sense, there was no expanding on Alfie becoming immortal, like supposedly he had to take the place of sombra, but there wasn't really any expanding on that, no description of what he actually was supposed to be doing, it didn't seem like his magic changed, he didn't get any godlike responsibilities, he didn't go up to whatever realm the rest of the gods are in, he just became immortal, so I feel like that was a bit unnecessary and not well written?
But counterpoint: it made me cry. And I was obsessed with the characters through the entire series, they were very well developed, which is my weakness. Love me some well developed characters. So 5 stars 👍
But counterpoint: it made me cry. And I was obsessed with the characters through the entire series, they were very well developed, which is my weakness. Love me some well developed characters. So 5 stars 👍
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2025
This is such an underrated series that I don't see being talked about as much as it deserves to be.
I have enjoyed all three books in this trilogy but this finale was the best one. A culmination of everything that happened in the previous books and a moving farewell to the characters we have got to know.
There was so much going on in this book that there was never a dull moment. Full of original and memorable scenes, it really took me on an adventure.
I loved the characters of Finn and Alfie and how their relationship developed over the course of the books in such a nuanced and believable way. Finn in particular is a character that will stay with me.
The first book in this series was one of the stories that got me into the fantasy genre so the whole trilogy will always hold a special place in my heart.
I have enjoyed all three books in this trilogy but this finale was the best one. A culmination of everything that happened in the previous books and a moving farewell to the characters we have got to know.
There was so much going on in this book that there was never a dull moment. Full of original and memorable scenes, it really took me on an adventure.
I loved the characters of Finn and Alfie and how their relationship developed over the course of the books in such a nuanced and believable way. Finn in particular is a character that will stay with me.
The first book in this series was one of the stories that got me into the fantasy genre so the whole trilogy will always hold a special place in my heart.
January 31, 2024
Four and half years ago, I got the first book in this series at BEA signed by the author. The premise sounded interesting, so I went for it.
I'm very glad I did. This was a wonderful Dominican folklore inspired YA fantasy, with a solid story, great characters, great pacing, a well done romance, and one of the most unique resolutions to the climax and epilogues I have ever seen in fantasy. This was a really wonderful book, and my only frustration is that not nearly enough people have checked this out!
If you are a fan of YA fantasy with diverse settings and a solid romance arc, I strongly recommend this series!
I'm very glad I did. This was a wonderful Dominican folklore inspired YA fantasy, with a solid story, great characters, great pacing, a well done romance, and one of the most unique resolutions to the climax and epilogues I have ever seen in fantasy. This was a really wonderful book, and my only frustration is that not nearly enough people have checked this out!
If you are a fan of YA fantasy with diverse settings and a solid romance arc, I strongly recommend this series!
April 23, 2024
Overall: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plotline: 4/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Audiobook: 4/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Spice Factor: .5
Themes: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment Factor: 4/5
Review: This finale had a lot of ties to finish up, and it did a great job of wrapping up all the loose ends and had a great climactic ending. However, the beginning and middle of this book got a bit lost with the 'quest' trope of finding missing pieces. I loved the additions of more POVs since we separated our main party, and that allowed us more insight into their motivations. The epilogue was perfect, all while destroying my heart. I really enjoyed this whole series!
Characters: 4/5
Plotline: 4/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Audiobook: 4/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Spice Factor: .5
Themes: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment Factor: 4/5
Review: This finale had a lot of ties to finish up, and it did a great job of wrapping up all the loose ends and had a great climactic ending. However, the beginning and middle of this book got a bit lost with the 'quest' trope of finding missing pieces. I loved the additions of more POVs since we separated our main party, and that allowed us more insight into their motivations. The epilogue was perfect, all while destroying my heart. I really enjoyed this whole series!
August 24, 2025
I think this series overall is very good, i might be a bit biased, though, due to the Spanish influence 🤣
There were some points during the book that I was like, "Oh well, that's convenient"; those conveniences plus the fact that the magic system went nuts and there were no rules anymore, deducted 1 star for me. These issues are quite common with YA fantasy.
Despite that, this is still an awesome series. The development, both personal and relationship wise, was great. Our villain is also a proper one, nothing else than the end of the world will do!
So much trauma and grief on this last instalment, be prepared!
There were some points during the book that I was like, "Oh well, that's convenient"; those conveniences plus the fact that the magic system went nuts and there were no rules anymore, deducted 1 star for me. These issues are quite common with YA fantasy.
Despite that, this is still an awesome series. The development, both personal and relationship wise, was great. Our villain is also a proper one, nothing else than the end of the world will do!
So much trauma and grief on this last instalment, be prepared!
May 17, 2025
I'm just disappointed by the end. This was not how I envisioned them go end up. We were just coming off a big cliffhanger and we were finding prophecy, completing it and whatnot. And it was very underwhelming compared to what happened in the second book, but it was enjoyable, up until the end that was rushed, like the author just wanted to get to that epilogue and forgot about everything else. I wanted to see more of the side characters. And the epilogue wasn't even that good. I get what she was trying to do, but execution was lacking. I've read 3 books with these characters for what?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews