Wow what a great conclusion to a great series! So much action, so much drama, so much angst! And so much brilliance... This story captivated me from book one in it's uniqueness. Firstly, I loved that it was set in Africa, with African and Egyptian beauties, a welcome deviation from the norm. A world so imaginative, I was following every detail with reverence, fully engaging with Imara and Naki, ok, also with Abe and Mali and, yeah, all of them. I thoroughly enjoyed how emotive they all are, they wear their emotions on their sleeves and it translates. The authors captures these emotions so splendidly I felt it all.
As Imara slowly regains what she has lost, thanks to Abe, the events around them have spiraled out of control. There are those who want everyone to be tagged for any offence which opens up a whole lot of abuse from others, even violence. Imara and her friends have to stop this from happening. They also have to stop the Carlotta, who shows her true colours, ok, excuse the pun... she's a scheming so and so who doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone other than herself, not even her own brother. To stop her from gaining complete and irrevocable power. Not so easy... they are thwarted at every turn, they are set upon, they are captured, they are tortured and some even die. Yes, this book was very real, real life events that happen to real people and the emotional rollercoaster has my stomach lurching!
Imara and Abe have really come a long way, their relationship solidifying brilliantly. I loved Naki too, she and Imara's sisterly love shines through and Naki shows some real teeth, love it! My big disappointment was in Siluk, just as I thought, huh, he ain't so bad, what he does and did is not on! I loved the different "voices" of the characters, and goodness are they diverse! And awesome. Ms Moody brought a whole new idea to life, the action and actions of her cast members was extremely well played out, we get propelled from one disaster to the next, we get shown how vulnerable the characters can be, we get to see how their resolve and determination carries them, we get to experience the love they feel for one another and we get to indulge our senses to the maximum. There's a scene near the end that is so beautifully tragic, flowers are placed over the rubble in an area where many lost their lives, transforming it from something ugly to something beautiful and cleansing. Everything about this series is beautiful, yeah, even the ugly is beautiful. It's a series I strongly recommend to all