Гриф

Isles of Storm and Sorrow #3

by Bex Hogan, Марія Головко (Translator)

Мерріан пройшла вирішальне випробування і стала Магом. Нарешті вона достатньо могутня, аби виступити проти свого ворога та об’єднати Дванадцять Островів. От тільки разом із могутністю Мерріан відчула на собі й темну сторону магії. Нова сила майже некерована, і магія підживлює пекучу жагу помсти. Мерріан нещадно полює на тих, хто скривдив її в минулому, попри благання друзів згадати, що насправді важливо — врятувати Острови.

Усе, заради чого вона боролася, висить на волосині. Чи виконає Мерріан свою місію повернути мир на Острови, якщо не може віднайти мир у власній душі?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Pirates, Young Adult Fantasy, High Fantasy, Fiction, War

432 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2021

Reviews

[Holly Race · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been lucky enough to receive an ARC of the final instalment in Bex's incredible trilogy. I love the first two books but this is just a tour de force of a finale. Clear a day to read it and know going in that you are not. prepared. for what is going to happen.

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Headlines:
Overly busy plot
No one is safe (it's that GOT thing)
Animal goodness

For me, this was the weakest of the three books and possibly because I've read them close together and I just tired of the unrelenting pace of the story. This plot was ram-packed full to the brim and overflowing with too many twists and turns. I wanted a pause here and there, I wanted more character depth, some maturing and some tangability to Marianne and Bronn's connection. I do like these two together but I wanted more cement.

Talon and the snow mares, the sea creatures...I loved these elements and although they weren't a massive part of the story, they did capture my imagination.

I'm glad I read the series, I enjoyed books one and two more and I would have liked this one to have finished on a higher note but I will think of the series overall fondly.

Rounded up.

[Elizabeth Corr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five enthusiastic thumbs up (or stars as the case may be!) for the final book in Bex Hogan's Isles of Storm and Sorrow Trilogy. I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC for this - full review to come!

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25!

So, what to say about this beautiful Pirates trilogy?
I'm in love with pirates since I was a little girl, and this is one of the most refreshing story about them that I've ever read.
These books are not perfect (is there a perfect book out there in general tho?), but it was so well done, expecially considering this is the first try for the author!
Bex Hogan really got it right, fellas.
Let's start with the things I liked the less about all three of these books: the rush!
So many things happens so fast, I wasn't really able to begin to digest them, but in the end I've gotta say that helped with the pacing, 'cause I wasn't able to put any of these books down. I was completely captured by it.

The thing I enjoyed the most is the worldbuilding. It's so magical and full of adventures! Sea monsters, land monsters, these very particular Isles, I was in a constant state of awe, like all the time.
The characters are very sweet, it is impossible not to fall in love with the crew and friends of our main protagonist Marianne (and she is a very well done character too).
Mostly I really liked the villains! I can't give any names 'cause it would be a spoiler, but three of them were deeply wicked, and I liked having a villain that is not motivated by silly things like "I'm in love with you but you refused me so I'm gonna burn the entire world" for a change (please stop doing this character).
In the end, these books give a very similar vibe as Pirates of Caribbean, but more multifaceted for there are scenes that are really hard to read, very crude and grim. Let's just put it this way: these books stand right in between Pirates of Caribbean and Black Sails, the first for the dialogues and for the action, the quests and the funny side of it, the second for the scenes where the villains are on stage!

I cried a little bit during this last book, and I'm very glad I read this trilogy.
I really hope they will translate it in my main language (Italian, Mondadori se stai leggendo te prego traduci) 'cause I want all my friends to read them!

[Quill&Queer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in book 2 as it shifted towards a more fantasy feel, but this book got us back to the pirate roots that we started off with, delivering an epic finale that I really enjoyed. My only gripe was that there was so many major characters killed off in this series, that it started to have little emotional effect on me.

[Anniek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read book 1 in this series back in 2018 and really enjoyed it, but I hadn't expected to remember it as vividly 3 years later. But I did and when I sat down to reread it and finally read book 2 and 3, I just had an incredible time. This has been such an enjoyable series, and I love how action-packed and full of plot twists it is - it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

[Patty Zuiderwijk · Rating 4 out of 5]

story 4/5
characters 4/5
writing 4/5
audio/paper Paper.
reread? Yes.
Recommend it? Yes.


Verhaal: 4/5
Karakters: 4/5
Schrijfstijl: 4/5
Papier/audio? Paper.
Herlezen: Ja.
Aanrader? Ja.

[Anastasiia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Усе максимально нелогічно . Головна героїня Мерріан - ніколи не думає мозком , бо в неї його видно немає. Справді цікавих персонажів авторка безжально вбиває. Кінець серії абсолютно розчарував - я очікувала чогось більшого від кінцевої битви . Перші частини хоч і не були ідеальними , та все ж там не забувалось, що це МОРСЬКЕ ФЕНТЕЗІ - як мінімум , як максимум - там залишалось хоч трохи логіки та адекватності.

Переклад різав око безжально, можливо в оригіналі стиль авторки кращий.

Дуже не вистачало саме морської тематики, подорожі на кораблях, океан майже не описувались. У перших частинах це було краще.

Занадто швидко розвивались події, а їх було багато, тому деталей та пояснень у цій книжці небагато. Загублено та нерозкрито багато цікавих, на мою суб'єктивну думку, речей, які б могли хоч якось врятувати книгу. Наприклад, розповісти більше про речі, які вкрав Гаюс у Мерріан у другій частині т.д. Не буду писати більше, щоб не спойлерити.

Загалом , дуже слабо прописані персонажі через велику їх кількість та загалом невеликий об'єм книги. Було б цікаво більше почути про Естер, Гарлі, мешканців третього острова. Але ні, ми протягом усієї книги лише спостерігаємо за тупими та необдуманими вчинками Мерріан.

Також, погано прописано всесвіт. Я , як читач, не розуміла які звичаї , традиції у мешканців як Східних , так і Західних островів. Магія не має якихось правил, які були б зрозумілі читачу. Де її межі - зрозуміти неможливо, хоч я і намагалась.

Оцінка 2 зірочки. На цьому все .

[Kayleigh (BookwormEscapes) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this is both the most gutted I’ve been that a series is over, and the most satisfied I’ve felt with an ending! This trilogy has been EPIC, and if you’re a YA fantasy fan who doesn’t have this ticked off then what are you doing?!!
So why do I love this so much? Let me take a sec.......
* MAGIC (and what an amazing magic system it is!)
* ROMANCE (SWOON!)
* PIRATES
* HIGH SEAS
* ACTION PACKED AF
* DEATHS (Bex Hogan will not hesistate to break your heart and kill your darlings)
* WORLD BUILDING (insanely imaginative, fully explored, with MAPS)
* PLOT TWISTS/CLIFFHANGERS (be grateful you can binge because the wait between books has been rough!)
* FIERCE FEMALES (the gals do not need saving!)
* QUEER/BIPOC REP
* BATTLES (the kinds of which play out in your head like a movie!)
* ANIMALS (the loyalest Sea Vulture and most precious Snow Mares)
* FOUND FAMILY
* SQUAD GOALS
* ARCS (everyone has an arc, it’s insane how many characters Bex gives full agency to!)
* VILLAINS (I’m talking Joffrey/Ramsey levels of evil!)
* GROWTH (the characters are real and flawed, they make mistakes but they learn from them and grow!)
* AND SO MUCH MORE!
🐍
Have I convinced you yet?! Honestly, Bex put me through the wringer with these books! But I can only applaud her for writing stories that never lose their fast pace, that make you care so much about so many characters, that have you up til 3am reading cos you can’t stop, and that you want to read all over again the second you finish. Amazing.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very satisfying ending to a wonderful trilogy.
One downside with these books is I feel Bex doesn't much describe the characters, and I would LOVE to have a more clear picture of then all in my mind! She more then makes up for it however with the brilliant creatures, animals and magically unique islands that come to life throughout this trilogy.

[Dreximgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Bex really does enjoy playing with your emotions but just like a glutton for punishment you go back for more. But my goodness she does it in such a remarkable way.

Love this trilogy.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this trilogy so much. I don't have the words to express the rollercoaster of emotions this trilogy has been right now, but I am sure I will find them soon enough.

I cannot wait to read whatever Bex Hogan writes next. 100% an autobuy author for me.

[Josie Jaffrey]

What a cracking finale. I really struggled to put it down. I loved the dark turn the story took at the beginning - it was completely engrossing - and the final resolution could not have been more satisfying. A perfect end to the trilogy.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Hachette Children's Group and Orion Books for granting my request to read an eARC of one of my most anticipated reads of the year!

Wow this book was such a rollercoaster ride of emotions! I am so grateful to have been able to read an eARC because I honestly thought the ending of the second book might have given me a heart attack 🤣

I am happy to say that my guess was right and the ending of book 2 was a plan concocted between Bronn and Marianne - win for me. I really hadn’t considered though the fall out from this and the impact it had on Bronn; I can’t even begin to imagine all the feelings and thoughts that crossed his mind before and after and I’m really glad this was explored. Getting to see his anger but also Marianne’s and how they came together to heal! Top notch writing for me.

I loved Marianne throughout this book and I’m so glad we get to see her in all states of emotion - she’s not just a cold hearted killer, she’s a young woman who has been betrayed and tortured and we see the ramifications of that in this book through her desire for revenge but also her trauma. I felt it was such an important story to play out and I’m glad there was such focus on this!

One moment in this book absolutely killed me and that was the death of Ravyn; I didn’t see it coming at all and the impact it had on me really shocked me - I honestly cried 😭 one thing this book does really well is show the perils of war: so many of our characters we’ve come to know in the books are killed off. This is honestly a breathe of fresh air compared to books that kill off no characters or less important ones.

There was one twist in this book that I’d sort of seen coming; when there is mention of a traitor I had two theories - 1, that it was a fake Toby created by Gaius or 2, that it was Jax. There was something about his character throughout this book that made me distrust him and so when the reveal happened it was both a shock and not a shock.. finding out he killed his friend though, god that was painful.

I definitely feel this entire book was a satisfactory ending to the trilogy. I wish we had maybe a little more focus on Torin’s recovery but ultimately this book isn’t about him and it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of it. I really enjoyed this series as a whole and felt that the writing just got stronger as it went on, I can't wait to see how Bex grows as an author. I am also very excited to get a physical copy of this book for my collection because the covers are just stunning! Out 8th April for you to make your own decision!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5 🐍

Un dernier à la hauteur des précédents, malgré quelques éléments peut-être trop prévisibles/clichés qui enlevaient au suspens et à la tension.

Mais malgré ça, j'ai passé un super moment ! J'étais super heureuse de retrouver les personnages, de continuer leur aventure et la terminer avec eux. J'ai beaucoup, beaucoup, apprécié la première partie du roman, l'aspect plus sombre m'a plu et ça a appuyé mon sentiment de bonne construction de la psychologie de Marianne, qui depuis le début est bien développée !

Les rebondissements m'ont plu malgré parfois leur prévisibilité, l'évolution des personnages aussi et même si la romance n'est finalement pas très centrale, elle collait bien au contexte donc ça ne m'a pas tant dérangé, j'ai quand même su apprécier la relation entre Bronn et Marianne.

Pour conclure, une super trilogie de fantasy YA, que je suis super heureuse d'avoir découverte ! J'ai passé à chaque fois un super moment avec ces romans ; sans aucune attente, je n'ai pas été déçue et ai pu apprécier pleinement mes lectures 💚

Si l'auteure écrit autre chose, je me laisserai tenter les yeux fermer !

[Ketrin Pr · Rating 1 out of 5]

WAR IS OVEEEEEEER

Час, витрачений впусту, чесне слово. Я не отримала жодного задоволення під час читання. Я люблю насолоджуватися книгами, відчувати їх. Тут так не вийшло.
Мотивація головного злодія - жахлива, кінцівка - абсурдна.

Як на мене, можна було закінчити й на першій книзі, я б не мала питань взагалі. Та маємо, шо маємо. Можете казати, що це несправедлива оцінка і я б так сама не написала, але як казали мені мої вчителі: "Один - також оцінка".

[Ksenaxxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Неймовірна серія
Через обкладинки думала, що вона більш підліткова, але вона досить жорстока
Авторка не боїться робити з героями жорстокі речі
Чотири зірочки, бо трохи скомканою мені видався останній розділ
Але я точно рекомендую до читання тим, хто любить криваве фентезі

[Urska Gruden · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, prou pogresala sm bit tok invested v neko serijo to je tok pasal brat zdejle

[Amy Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘This world’s going to burn anyway. Let’s be the ones to light the match.’
✨
Hello, I’d like to report a murder - MY FEELINGS!

This book was absolutely outstanding!!! This series for me has gotten better and better and Vulture was the epic finale. This book made me feel EVERYTHING (Ash witnessed me sobbing on several occasions, this book was written that well) - it was a journey from start to finish and I was completely absorbed by it! I was rooting for our amazing characters from the get go, and was so happy to be reunited with old favourites. I had so many YES BITCH moments and actually said ‘awww’ a few times out loud too. I just really bloody loved this book 🥺.

Over a week later and I’m still feeling the book hangover from how good this book was. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS SERIES ENOUGH! Its so well rounded with action, magic, adventure, romance and amazing characters (Marianne, Olwyn and Torin you have my heart!) For me, it had the most satisfying ending to any series that I have ever read and I can’t begin to tell you how happy that made me. Please, if you haven’t already, read this series - its phenomenal! An absolute epic fantasy! 5 ⭐️’s from me - strike first, die last!

TW’s for the series: death, animal death, torture, child abuse, abduction, aqua-phobia, sexual harassment

[Emmie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew that this book would send me on a rollercoaster of emotions and it did. I laughed, I cried and I felt content. It was heartbreakingly beautiful and this series is one of my all time favourites. It is one I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Being the final book in a trilogy I feel like there is always so much pressure to get it perfect but Bex Hogan nailed it on the head and whilst I'm so sad that the series is over, I am so happy to have gone on this adventure with these characters. I ended up devouring this book in just over 4 hours! This book was perfect in every way. From the plot, the character development and the twists and turns, this book was everything I needed and more.

Marianne has grown so much as a character and I loved going on her journey with her. I laughed when she laughed, I cried when she cried and I became so attached to her that I could read another whole series with just her.

I could go on and on about this book and series but I don't want to spoil anything so go read it! Bex Hogan is one of my all time favourite authors! She's so lovely and sweet, not to mention her writing is just beautiful and mesmerising. I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe its all over. I have adored every second of this trilogy and I already can’t wait to re-read it.

I loved being back with Marianne and crew, sailing between the twelve isles and finding all the mysteries. I also found the particular twists and turns of the finale fantastic. There was so much to take in from the very start! In fact the end of book 2 is punishing, and I’m glad my theories about that worked out, but I particularly liked seeing the impacts of that on my favourite characters. There is so much trauma, but that’s so accurate to everything they have gone through.

The relationship between Marianne and Bronn really is just fantastic, but i also adore her friendships - especially with the prince. It also really gives weight to all the reveals and betrayals as we go along.

There were two moments in this that I wont go into because of spoilers, but OMG the PAIN. I am pretty sure I send Bex hate tweets as I read this though - she does love to punish us! I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next.

5 stars.

[Jodie Sheerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows on perfectly from book two, and it was a fantastic end to the trilogy. There’s no way I could rate this one anything less than 5 stars. The ending was perfect. I haven’t been left with any questions about what happened, and I’m happy with the endings that the characters got, and that’s all I can say without spoilers! The character progression throughout this series is fantastic, it’s great seeing the characters develop the way they did. I would have liked more for some of the characters, but this hasn’t disappointed me. With so many side characters, I was worried that I was going to dislike some of them - but that definitely wasn’t the case. The storyline continued to have me hooked for all 3 books, and I struggled to stop reading them. I’m glad that I had all 3 books on my TBR so that I could read them one after the other. I definitely recommend these books, and I can’t wait to read more from Bex Hogan in the future.

[Tsam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect end to an amazing series, Vulture completely ruined me in the best way. After /that/ ending to Venom, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what would come next, but Bex topped herself again, Vulture was excellent, it picked up the story in such a fantastic way, bringing the characters into a new, shifted world, that all shifted because of Marianne’s choices and actions. I loved the way it explored the different relationships and how they’ve changed, grown and evolved since Viper. There were some moments that made me have to pause because I just couldn’t take it anymore. I laughed, I cried, I can’t believe it’s over.

Full review coming to aboywithabook.wordpress.com after publication.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a SHELL of the person I was. I have been through it all reading Vulture: joy, mistrust, anger, shock, tears (quite a few tears). Bex Hogan has written an exceptional ending to this series and I am so so sad it’s over. These characters have my whole heart! This book was so incredibly clever. So many twists and turns. So much unexpected. It made me so incredibly happy to be back with the characters I love, but I cried A LOT. The ending was so incredibly fitting and I am not ready to say goodbye to my boy Bronn. Just magic.

[Amy Poirier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal finish to a must-read fantasy trilogy!

This book broke my heart and then painstakingly reassembled it. I literally cried tears on the page. I stayed up late to make sure characters came out of battles alive. I messaged the author when I felt betrayed. I was all in! These characters lived in my heart, and I will welcome them back again and again.

This book has magic, love and friendship. It's about fighting for what you believe in and never giving up. I enthusiastically give Vulture five stars!

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the devastating cliffhanger at the end of book 2, I could not wait to get my hands on the final book of the Isles of Storm and Sorrow trilogy. It has taken me quite a while to be able to get my thoughts straight after! Bex Hogan is such an amazing writer, this book hooked me right from the start and had me craving more whenever I had to (very reluctantly) stop reading. I am very happy to finally have the conclusion but at the same time kind of sad that it's all over!

[Strangely Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me approximately 5 years to read this but I finally finished it 😂 (not because I didn't like the book, but because I've been super busy) this was an epic finale to the trilogy. It hurt, it was beautiful, it was good.

[Beth Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning, emotionally devastating finale. Sad its over.

[Susan J. Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great finale to the trilogy. Each of these books is unique in their own way. A very satisfactory conclusion.

[Briony2181 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, great ending to a great trilogy!