Darkdawn

I never planned on reading this book immediately after finishing Godsgrave but I just couldn't imagine not picking it up after that cliffhanger in book 2. And I'm quite happy that I didn't keep it for later. There will probably be spoilers for Nevernight and Godsgrave in the review below, so please keep a note of that.

The writing this time around was fairly easy to read and I flew through this book even though it's huge. The pacing dragged a bit in places, especially when newer characters were introduced, and I didn't know why we had to read about them - but the author did a nice job bringing everything full circle towards the end and that's what really satisfied me. And I really enjoyed the world building in this book because we finally get all the answers we have been waiting for since the beginning. However, I also thought many of the revelations happened very early on in the book, and this reduced the suspense a bit. And while I have been thoroughly entertained and thrilled and blown away by the previous installments, I ended up crying a lot at a few moments in this one. And I don't expect anything less from a finale, so definitely thank you to the author for that.

There are some very spectacular action sequences, especially with Mia using the full scope of her powers and I really enjoyed visualizing them. Kristoff also definitely seems to be in competition with GRRM in how many characters he can kill and whenever I thought something good was happening, someone would die. This surely helped in the main characters' development but I'm not someone who's fond of so many deaths in fantasy novels. Some might say it's unrealistic, but I like my books to end up happy. However, I did expect something very different than the way it ended and I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

Mia is still full of vengeance and rage, but there has been a considerable transformation in her since the beginning and I love it. She gets very introspective in this book, questioning how different she is from her father, is she justified in killing so many people, and is it fair asking her friends (or her familia as she calls them) to fight and sacrifice for her sake.

Jonnen is also the highlight of this book - his hatred for the assassin who killed his father to coming to love his long lost sister is wonderfully written. It is fraught with a lot of frustrations in between, but he is still a little boy and his reactions felt so realistic. And while I've always loved Mia's compassionate side, it was a revelation seeing how much love she had for her brother.

I only started warming up to Ash towards the end of Godsgrave, but turned a bit whiny and insecure in this one which I didn't quite like. I could see where she was coming from and I still didn't like it, but it took me a while to realize she just loves Mia too much and doesn't want to lose her and her reactions are just a defense mechanism. Tric was another favorite addition to the story, and it was mostly his scenes that made me emotional. I'm still salty about what the author did to him even though he's got a beautiful character arc. We also get to see more of the bond that Mia shares with Mercurio and her other gladiatii friends and it felt nice to see Mia love and trust so many people in her life.

Finally, I have really have enjoyed my journey through this trilogy and getting to know one of my favorite assassins Mia. While Nevernight will always remain my favorite book of the trilogy, I thought this was a very good ending but I have a feeling it might be a little polarizing. However, if you've read either one or two of the previous books, what are you waiting for - pick this up immediately to know what happens to our beloved characters. And if you wanna read a new series with badass assassins hell bent on vengeance, you can always start from the beginning. You will not be disappointed.

The Nevernight Chronicles have quickly made Jay Kristoff one of my favourite authors. They blend an entertaining mix of humour and darkness. The lead character, Mia, is one of the new breed of bad ass heroines that are increasingly featuring in fantasy literature. Her cynicism and single mindedness provides a perfect foil for dark and twisted world she lives in. Her two passengers, Eclipse and Mr Kindly are a perfect odd couple giving suitable light relief through their presence.

The final chapter of this trilogy sees Mia finally approaching her destiny - to die to resurrect the moon. Her brother adds another entertaining if unwilling passenger along for the ride, and her comrades from the gladitorium are also joining to give a broader cast of allies in this installment.

Kristoff's trademark snark is very much present. This book also manages to get very meta with some extreme 4th wall breaking - entertaining in its own way and brings the unreliable narrator idea to head.

The Nevernight trilogy as a whole has been one of my highlights in terms of reads this year. All three books are fantastic. The story travels at a breakneck pace and never relents, and Darkdawn provides a worthy conclusion to the series. This has to be a must read for any fantasy lover.

About the book

Following the story of Mia Corvere, the third and last book in the “Nevernight Chronicle” series, Darkdawn is a masterpiece that shows us how much Mia grows and how strong she is. After trying to kill the man she hates the most, Julius Scaeva, Mia is the most wanted killer in the Republic. On the run, followed by her friends who love and appreciate her, Mia tries to uncover the truth about what's really going on in her life. But the question is: can Mia survive in a world where even daylight must die?

Plot

There are so many things happening in this book, but keeping it spoiler-free I can say that it will keep you hooked and wanting to read more and more and see: will Mia survive the terros that lie ahead of her? Will Jonnen, her small brother, come to love her as she loves him? Will Mia ever forgive Ashlinn for killing her beloved, Tric?

Characters

Mia is strong. She is fierce, she does reckless things and she never gives up. She's such an inspiring character. I loved her evolution and her development, the ways she handled all the awful things that kept happening in this book. She's been hurt so much, but still she STANDS.

I couldn't like Ashlinn. I just hated her for killing Tric and I couldn't get over it, because even if she comes to love Mia so much, she still hurt her at the beginning, because she knew how much Tric meant to Mia and she still chose to kill him. I understand that she was somehow very similar to Mia, both girls doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals. When Tric forgave her for killing him, I started liking her a little bit more, but I couldn't love her or be very enthusiast about her relationship with Mia.

Tric was my favourite character, besides Mia, because he loved her SO MUCH and he sacrificed everything he had for her, even thoug he was supposed to be a heartless assassin. When he told her how much he loved her, I cried so hard and I was feeling really emotional. Damn you, Jay Kristoff, for doing this to me.

Final thoughts

This book was purely amazing. I am so happy I decided to dive into this series, because Mia Corvere has become one of my all-time favourite characters.
If you liked Jay's work with Amie Kaufman (The Illuminae Files, Aurora Cycle) you'll absolutely love this masterpiece.

Other books you might also like are:
Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley
The Five Warrior Angels Series by Brian Durfee

4.4 ✨
This whole series in general is in incredible and it might join Kristoff's Empire of Vampires in my top 10 ever read! This book was just too much for me in some areas to give 5 stars though. First off there was so much going on in the ending that I wasn't really certain what happened. I got the gist of the ending but not enough to be wowed.
Second of all there was a pretty graphic homo sex scene that was a bit much for my taste.
Also the love interest between Mia and Ash at the end of the last book seemed more like a teenage lust relationship more than down right love and then this book portrays it like they've been together for decades and would end their life for the other one which is pretty surprising knowing what they went through the past couple books.
But all this is superficial issues. When Kristoff got down to the nitty-gritty it was so good that I finished this book in two days!

And with that ends another memorable fantasy trilogy. Jay keeps us on the edge and manages the balance exquisitely. There is time travel, changing allegiances, ghost librarians and many other unexpected turns before getting the ending that we may or may not deserve. All in all a highly recommended series though clearly for the adults.

If I was being fair to the book, I'd rate this three stars. But alas, the things I had problems with I feel so strongly about it's just two stars for me. In this book, I lost all care for and interest in Mia. I had major problems with the dialogue and I thought nothing about the character work or plot was interesting or special for the first 2/3rds of the book. The end was satisfying I thought, but so much of the book was easy (even the final conflict at the last 20 pages) and I had the strong urge to DNF multiple times. I don't know what the point the first 300 pages was, except to show character bonding (and pretend it wasn't kidnapping and Stockholm Syndrome with no one ever acknowledging that). I know this is not the common opinion here, but as with any book I didn't enjoy, I'm glad many others did.