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The Odium Trilogy #3
The Princess and the Odium
The kingdom of Venostes is in upheaval.
Her sister's cure in hand, Jastyn races home to find her family in chains. The Dark Fae has grown more powerful, and malevolent forces reign. When Jastyn is forced to work alongside the Diarmaids, things become even more complicated.
Aurelia is dragged back to Venostes to confront ot only her brother's killer, but her own parents' dark past. As evil takes hold of her kingdom, Aurelia fights to destroy the Dark Fae and his maters once and for all.
Together, Jastyn and Aurelia face unimaginable dangers. Can they take back Venostes? Even more, can two people as different as they—a princess and an Odium—be together? Are they destined for one another, as Aurelia hopes? Or, as Jastyn fears, are they simply impossible?
Her sister's cure in hand, Jastyn races home to find her family in chains. The Dark Fae has grown more powerful, and malevolent forces reign. When Jastyn is forced to work alongside the Diarmaids, things become even more complicated.
Aurelia is dragged back to Venostes to confront ot only her brother's killer, but her own parents' dark past. As evil takes hold of her kingdom, Aurelia fights to destroy the Dark Fae and his maters once and for all.
Together, Jastyn and Aurelia face unimaginable dangers. Can they take back Venostes? Even more, can two people as different as they—a princess and an Odium—be together? Are they destined for one another, as Aurelia hopes? Or, as Jastyn fears, are they simply impossible?
233 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2021
3 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Sam Ledel
10 books27 followersSam Ledel is the author of nine novels with Bold Strokes Books. Her debut, Rocks and Stars, was a 2019 Goldie Finalist for Young Adult fiction. She is twice a finalist in the LGBTQ+ category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards - in 2023 for Wildflower Words and in 2025 for Adrift, both historical romances. Her 2025 novel Discovering Gold placed first in Women's Fiction in the CIPA EVVY Book Awards.
Ledel enjoys being able to write in her free time, usually with her Jack Russell terrier snuggled close by. She is currently working on her next novel.
Ledel enjoys being able to write in her free time, usually with her Jack Russell terrier snuggled close by. She is currently working on her next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 13, 2021
3.5⭐️ – Everyone makes mistakes but some mistakes have more serious consequences than others. Even if Princess Aurelia’s parents thought they were doing the right thing both for their daughter and their kingdom, their misguided decisions add even more hurdles to Jastyn’s quest to save her sister.
This is the third and final book in The Odium Trilogy. Don’t attempt to read it as a standalone, start with Daughter of No One. From the beginning, Jastyn, the Odium (child of an unwed mother) in the title, has been on a quest to find the cure to her younger sister’s illness and on her journey, fell in love with Aurelia, the princess. Now that she’s procured the missing ingredient, she needs to rush back, save her family and – she didn’t see that one coming – protect the royal family while fighting evil forces from taking over the world.
As with the second book, Broken Reign, it took me a while to get back into the story, but I’m not sure I can blame it entirely on my weak memory. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and not for the first time, I wish books in series included some sort of recap of previous episodes, or at least a list of characters and places with a little context.
There aren’t as many different species in this part as there was in the previous two, but because it’s the last book in the trilogy, there are a few storylines running at the same time. The author makes them work together as well as alongside one another without losing the reader while still tying every loose end.
The world-building in the whole trilogy is fantastic, and even if it feels familiar now that we’ve been navigating it with the characters for a while, it’s still surprising and unsettling.
Jastyn and Aurelia spend a significant part of this instalment unsure of what the other is feeling and whether they’re forgiven or not, and when they’re finally reunited, there’s so much happening that they don’t have much one on one time. Also, it’s YA/NA so nothing too explicit.
All in all, The Princess and the Odium is a fitting end to a well-written YA fantasy series.
ARC provided to Les Rêveur for an honest review.
This is the third and final book in The Odium Trilogy. Don’t attempt to read it as a standalone, start with Daughter of No One. From the beginning, Jastyn, the Odium (child of an unwed mother) in the title, has been on a quest to find the cure to her younger sister’s illness and on her journey, fell in love with Aurelia, the princess. Now that she’s procured the missing ingredient, she needs to rush back, save her family and – she didn’t see that one coming – protect the royal family while fighting evil forces from taking over the world.
As with the second book, Broken Reign, it took me a while to get back into the story, but I’m not sure I can blame it entirely on my weak memory. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and not for the first time, I wish books in series included some sort of recap of previous episodes, or at least a list of characters and places with a little context.
There aren’t as many different species in this part as there was in the previous two, but because it’s the last book in the trilogy, there are a few storylines running at the same time. The author makes them work together as well as alongside one another without losing the reader while still tying every loose end.
The world-building in the whole trilogy is fantastic, and even if it feels familiar now that we’ve been navigating it with the characters for a while, it’s still surprising and unsettling.
Jastyn and Aurelia spend a significant part of this instalment unsure of what the other is feeling and whether they’re forgiven or not, and when they’re finally reunited, there’s so much happening that they don’t have much one on one time. Also, it’s YA/NA so nothing too explicit.
All in all, The Princess and the Odium is a fitting end to a well-written YA fantasy series.
ARC provided to Les Rêveur for an honest review.
November 29, 2021
This was an effing awesome end to The Odium Trilogy!
May 2, 2021
Everything wrapped up very nicely in the third and final book. I’ve enjoyed the adventure and camaraderie. Finally Jastyn was able to give Alanna her cure. Aurelia and her parents are finally able to start to change things in the kingdom. Making a better relationship between themselves and the Selkies. I loved how Aurelia stuck by her love for Jastyn. She didn’t let her parents or Jastyn’s fear sway her. I loved the ending of Jastyn going home with Aurelia. Welcomed to the castle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2021
This is a neat wrap-up to a solid Young Adult/ New Adult fantasy trilogy. This one mostly centers around Jastyn, the titular Odium and princess Aurelia finding their way back to each other and saving their families from the evil baroness and her power hungry son. While there were some spots that were a little repetitive (both Jastyn's and Aurelia's parents get damselled at different times in the book), I liked that there weren't too many problems with plot holes and the pacing was nice.
The best part of the book for me was that the action did keep escalating as the stakes were raised again and again. Though Jastyn and Aurelia didn't get to talk about their fallout from the last book, they were given time to do some introspection before they sort of talked it out. I also liked that they didn't always get a chance to talk and with reason. Their true reunion wasn't overly dramatic, but just a little bittersweet, which was a nice departure from the typical super dramatic blowouts.
Like I said above, some of the drama in the book is just a little too repetitive and slightly forced. While I enjoyed Jastyn's and Aurelia's relationship resolution, I thought that the action relied a little too much on the kidnapping/ leaving people behind bit way too much. I think this happened at least three times throughout the book, and by the last time this happened, I had to roll my eyes. It was too much and was just there to throw the antagonists in front of the good guys, instead of letting any planning to happen. To be fair, there was some of that, but it used the 'gotta rescue the family members trope' too often.
Overall, I thought this was a solid trilogy with some great themes about forgiveness, seeing past prejudice, and determination. The characters were allowed to be a little messy and make mistakes, but it wasn't prone to overly dramatic scenes. I always love a good fantasy series that makes its world as interesting as its characters, and for the most part The Odium Trilogy does this.
*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The best part of the book for me was that the action did keep escalating as the stakes were raised again and again. Though Jastyn and Aurelia didn't get to talk about their fallout from the last book, they were given time to do some introspection before they sort of talked it out. I also liked that they didn't always get a chance to talk and with reason. Their true reunion wasn't overly dramatic, but just a little bittersweet, which was a nice departure from the typical super dramatic blowouts.
Like I said above, some of the drama in the book is just a little too repetitive and slightly forced. While I enjoyed Jastyn's and Aurelia's relationship resolution, I thought that the action relied a little too much on the kidnapping/ leaving people behind bit way too much. I think this happened at least three times throughout the book, and by the last time this happened, I had to roll my eyes. It was too much and was just there to throw the antagonists in front of the good guys, instead of letting any planning to happen. To be fair, there was some of that, but it used the 'gotta rescue the family members trope' too often.
Overall, I thought this was a solid trilogy with some great themes about forgiveness, seeing past prejudice, and determination. The characters were allowed to be a little messy and make mistakes, but it wasn't prone to overly dramatic scenes. I always love a good fantasy series that makes its world as interesting as its characters, and for the most part The Odium Trilogy does this.
*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 6, 2022
Review excerpted from my blog post over at Pan/Cis LGBT2SQ+ Romance Reviews (https://pancis.wordpress.com/2022/01/...)
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars
Library recommendation: Recommended for public library LGBT2SQ+ new adult fantasy collections.
Warning: Hereafter, you chance spoilers. I will try never to reveal major plot points, but to review any book, you must reveal some parts of the story.
_________________
Love story speed: Slow burn, continued from second book
Relationship dynamics: The Outcast (h1) / The Princess (h2)
Sexual content: A smidge; off-page with (very little) kissing on-page
Gender Identity: Cis (h1) / Cis (h2)
Sexual Identity: Lesbian (h1) ; not self-declared (h2), but Lesbian is implied
Triggers: “Racial” marriage laws; ostracization of “mixed” children born out of wedlock; violence
Acceptance Rating: 5.0 stars
Acceptance Rating Explanation: Love is love. Acceptance here comes not from heteronormativity, but from legitimacy of birth. So, similar emotions are at play and similar prejudices raise their heads, but not due to sexuality.
Grammar/Editing: My ARC had a couple of typos and a few word choice issues.
Review: As mentioned in my review of the second book in this series (found here), this series is new adult in tone. It is also a series to read in order. I had to go back to the previous book to re-orient myself before I could carry on reading this installment. Happily, however, the world map has reappeared in this volume (after being absent in the second book), so you won’t need to consult multiple books to get all of the necessary information. The pacing of this book was much slower than the previous book, and I found it to be quite repetitive. In fact, in a couple of instances, I had to reassure myself that I hadn’t accidentally skipped backward in the book, so similar were the scenes. That being said, the world building is fairly consistent, except that the strength of the magic wielded by the main characters mysteriously seems to be strong and then incredibly weak when it serves the plot.
Jastyn and Aurelia remain the central characters in this narrative. In my previous review, I described their relationship as tentative. That quality continues in this book. In fact, if I didn’t know that they were lovers, I would think they were just friends, in terms of chemistry. A large proportion of their relationship journey is plagued with indecision, self-doubt, and pining. As a result, their relationship didn’t spark much investment for me, except in the more platonic sense that I felt for most of the supporting characters. What I will say for this book is that the supporting characters do shine: the villains are dastardly, the friends are steadfast, and the author really did put some effort into their development, which I appreciated given how lackluster I found the main characters in this final book in the series.
Full disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars
Library recommendation: Recommended for public library LGBT2SQ+ new adult fantasy collections.
Warning: Hereafter, you chance spoilers. I will try never to reveal major plot points, but to review any book, you must reveal some parts of the story.
_________________
Love story speed: Slow burn, continued from second book
Relationship dynamics: The Outcast (h1) / The Princess (h2)
Sexual content: A smidge; off-page with (very little) kissing on-page
Gender Identity: Cis (h1) / Cis (h2)
Sexual Identity: Lesbian (h1) ; not self-declared (h2), but Lesbian is implied
Triggers: “Racial” marriage laws; ostracization of “mixed” children born out of wedlock; violence
Acceptance Rating: 5.0 stars
Acceptance Rating Explanation: Love is love. Acceptance here comes not from heteronormativity, but from legitimacy of birth. So, similar emotions are at play and similar prejudices raise their heads, but not due to sexuality.
Grammar/Editing: My ARC had a couple of typos and a few word choice issues.
Review: As mentioned in my review of the second book in this series (found here), this series is new adult in tone. It is also a series to read in order. I had to go back to the previous book to re-orient myself before I could carry on reading this installment. Happily, however, the world map has reappeared in this volume (after being absent in the second book), so you won’t need to consult multiple books to get all of the necessary information. The pacing of this book was much slower than the previous book, and I found it to be quite repetitive. In fact, in a couple of instances, I had to reassure myself that I hadn’t accidentally skipped backward in the book, so similar were the scenes. That being said, the world building is fairly consistent, except that the strength of the magic wielded by the main characters mysteriously seems to be strong and then incredibly weak when it serves the plot.
Jastyn and Aurelia remain the central characters in this narrative. In my previous review, I described their relationship as tentative. That quality continues in this book. In fact, if I didn’t know that they were lovers, I would think they were just friends, in terms of chemistry. A large proportion of their relationship journey is plagued with indecision, self-doubt, and pining. As a result, their relationship didn’t spark much investment for me, except in the more platonic sense that I felt for most of the supporting characters. What I will say for this book is that the supporting characters do shine: the villains are dastardly, the friends are steadfast, and the author really did put some effort into their development, which I appreciated given how lackluster I found the main characters in this final book in the series.
Full disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 19, 2022
I could not wait to start this! Jastyn finally has the cure, she can save her sister - almost. The dark fae that have been lurking on the edges are now front and center, and may prove to be part of the biggest hurdle yet. Ledel does an excellent job of building tension, and keeping characters true to themselves even as they grow and change. There were a few stories to follow in this installment, but I appreciate that we weren’t left with any loose ends by the time the story ended. (Who wants to end a trilogy with questions?) It was a little strange not seeing Jastyn and Aurelia side by side for a good chunk of the book, but just made their reunion that much better. Highly recommend starting at book one and reading right through all three books to get the full effect of this amazing story.
May 25, 2021
A solid ending to a very enjoyable and imaginative trilogy. While the plot was good and the worldbuilding was very interesting, the characters were my favourite part, especially Aurelia. She's grown so much since the first book and it was so good to see what a strong and courageous woman she's become. Jastyn starts to heal from the wounds her harrowing childhood had left her and begins to imagine a better future. Their relationship was very sweet. If there're going to be more books set in this universe I'd definitely be interested in reading them.
March 16, 2025
An exciting and well-crafted conclusion to a beautiful trilogy.
December 20, 2021
Good story. The main characters were likeable and it was easy to root for them to get together. I felt that the character of Sophie was a bit insecure and damaged and seemed not to want a permanent relationship, but you could feel that she really wanted to find that someone special. Tests was the total opposite, but just never found that someone special until she started to fall for her best friend. This was a slow burn romance with a friends to lovers vibe. There was quite a bit of angst and a few bumps in the road to them getting together. This was an entertaining and quick read. I would recommend this book to my friends and family, and look forward to what comes next from this author.
April 15, 2021
Epic Awesome!
I just so happened to have re-read Books 1 and 2 in the week before Book 3 was available. It was so nice to have revisited Venostes, Jastyn’s and Aurelia’s families and adventure! Book 3 was a wonderful add - I loved the growth of all the characters (Aurelia noticeably so), the different family structures, the triumphs against prejudice. However, the story ended at a new beginning; I have a feeling there is more to tell. At least, I want to meet Rigo’s partner and people, hang out with the twins, and learn more about Jastyn’s selkie side and the other neighboring queendoms. Pretty Please?
I just so happened to have re-read Books 1 and 2 in the week before Book 3 was available. It was so nice to have revisited Venostes, Jastyn’s and Aurelia’s families and adventure! Book 3 was a wonderful add - I loved the growth of all the characters (Aurelia noticeably so), the different family structures, the triumphs against prejudice. However, the story ended at a new beginning; I have a feeling there is more to tell. At least, I want to meet Rigo’s partner and people, hang out with the twins, and learn more about Jastyn’s selkie side and the other neighboring queendoms. Pretty Please?
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews