The Immortal Words

The Immortal Words is the third in the Grave Kingdom trilogy, and what an ending! In this book, Bingmei has accepted that she is the phoenix-bound and that she must act to stop Echion and Xisi from inflicting a reign of terror on the world. She is ready to sacrifice herself as the prophecy says she must, and she is aided in her quest only by her friend Quion.

But sacrifice has many meanings, and Bingmei does not die. She sees the suffering Echion has wrought, not only in the physical world, but beyond the Death Wall. Loved ones cannot find each other in the afterlife. She knows she has to press on, to stop Echion, and she determines that she will do whatever it takes to kill him.

Jeff Wheeler does a masterful job at setting up some twists and turns here. There were were a couple of times I had to pick my jaw up off the floor, thinking, oh, wait, he did NOT just do that with that character! But he did, and it was a glorious read. Action aplenty, good versus evil, and an ending that doesn't neatly tie up everything with a bow. Because really, in this life, can evil ever be completely defeated? No, it survives, with the potential to come roaring back in another form and with another face.

This is a worthwhile read, and I hope Mr. Wheeler revisits this world in another series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for an advance review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.