Five Dark Fates audiobook

4.5

perfection!i can’t believe this series is over. i’m gonna miss it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Good finale to a great series that I highly enjoyed. It moves at a good pace and the characters we have read and watched developed over the last three books come to head fairly quickly. The action was intriguing but the real intensity comes from the dead queens. Overall, a satisfying final book!

My emotions! 😭 I don't know what I feel yet! Lol I need to let this one marinate for a while. So much happened to the queens and their family and friends over the past 4 books. One thing is for sure... I'm glad I read it. Buddy Read with Natalie & Misha

We have a title and book cover!I hope this series will continue to be good. *groans*Plus the Taiwanese book cover is still lovely...And here is my fanart for Queen Illiann, the legendary Blue Queen from generations ago before the main story starts.(Link: https://www.deviantart.com/darkchildr...) Premise: The rebels and the Queen Crowned and her supporters are still locked in a struggle to determine who is the rightful queen of the island Fennbrin: the poisoner Queen Crowned Katharine the Undead, or Julie, the Legion Queen backed by the rebels?In secret, Katharine was plagued by the ghosts of the dead former queens, who couldn't be satisfied until they could have a stronger vessel to hold them: the Katharine's older sister, the powerful exiled queen Mirabella, was their next target. Meanwhile, the deadly Mist is still plaguing the Island, when the solution of the Mist lies in the sacrifice of one queen, what will the three queenly sisters and Julie do? Actual review here: I do hope there will be more stories from this series, but Ms. Blake doesn't seem to be the type to spin sequel after sequel just to please the readers, let just wait and see!I like that Ms. Blake continues to allow her main characters to stay dead to the end (Okay, okay, exempt (view spoiler)[Pietyr (hide spoiler)], much to my disappointment), more authors should take her example.Still, I'm not entirely happy with the world building and how the revolution is set into motion, I just don't think it's realistic for the islanders with a 1000 plus years of tradition of believing their Queens are sacred daughters of their Goddess to shift their loyalty to another 'queen' backed by the rebels when said 'queen' didn't have any royal blood in her (still I'm glad that Julie didn't suddenly find herself having queenblood or being the secret daughter of the former Queen, that's too cliche). Arguably you can say the islanders are fed up by the poisoners and their regime but to be honest I don't see the poisoners are doing that badly a job at ruling the island to a point of enraging half of the population to rebel against them. I honestly think the rebels would have to work on their plan for at least a few years before they can openly put Julie to the front as their Legion Queen and rebel against the current Queen Crowned.Secondly, you can also argue that Katharine is a very unpopular queen and the islanders are doubtful of her right to rule when the Mist and the other bad omens come so they are happy to get rid of her and gather around another queen. Still, to be honest I can't see how all these doubts and the longing for change can take root that quickly within one year of time. Sighs. Most of the main characters might not be so great or outstanding as individual, for example I don't like how Arsinoe reacts to Billy being captured. Sighs, why must you behave so childishly in the time of crisis!? That's unbecoming.Still, I do like how Arsinoe works low magic and uses it as her weapon against Katharine and the Mist, etc. However, I do like how this bunch of characters working together to move the story forward, and I think their actions and choices are reasonable for most of the time.Strangely enough, Pietyr Renard (or Pietyr Arron) also grows on me through the series and especially in this book, I like reading about how he interacts with the rebels. XDLast but not least, I'm still rooting so hard for Julie/Arsinoe even though Billy did grow on me more.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

“Those scars you have,’ Emilia says, ‘that you would hide behind a mask. They are the fiercest part of you. Now let us earn a few more.’” That was a rollercoaster of emotions for sure. Going into the book I only had one wish for it. A fierce wish that I was not prepared to let go of. That is until I realized that in order for me to actually love the ending, to feel like it made it justice, I needed that wish destroyed. So, I changed my wish -and boy was that a drastic, 180, change - and it made easier to bear the tension. The fact that the ending was so completely different than what I thought, on any of the two occasions, that I wanted, made me really like the book. Because that ending made a certain, deafening, kind of sense. I'm not saying the ending was quite perfect, there were a few things I want more off, but it was really good. On brand. “But you did. And you broke her heart. I’d hate you for that already, even if you hadn’t also broken part of mine.” After the way Two Dark Reigns left off I didn't quite know how I wanted everything to go. I had, quite certainly, no more than one expectation and that also for just two characters. Everyone else I was just gonna see what we were given and decide if I liked it or not. Largely I did. I realized soon enough that for the ending to feel proper and right there needed to be a lot of suffering and tears and darkness -after all the premises of these books is a dark one... from literally every book. Epicness, a large confrontation, was also in order. Usually, I wish for happy endings for my characters but that didn't feel like an ending that was gonna be satisfactory here. It needed to leave me a little hollow. “Broken-hearted and a fool. I should have known what she was becoming. I should have always been afraid of her. Yet how could I when she was not a monster to me?” Let's start peacing things together. Mirabella's arc story was the one is was probably less excited about. It wasn't bad, exactly, but it didn't enchant me or completely thrilled me until the end. Her decisions were... hard. She was trying to do what she could, what she thought was the best, to help everyone. I like the irony of how that ended. (view spoiler)[ I really like that the one that was most powerful and that could have done the most was the one that had the most insignificant death. (hide spoiler)] Her relationship with Katharine, though, is one I wasn't a complete fan of. I just feel like it didn't quite make sense to me. Maybe if it had been left to stew a little longer I would like a bit more. As it is, I can see how it could work like that. Katharine's -who I had called Katherine till I realized it wasn't like that in this book - arc is my favorite, I think, by far. No, she wasn't my favorite character, though I do like her quite a bit, but her story was the most interesting of all of them. How it ends is one of my favorite parts of the book. Arsinoe's ending was good. I certainly liked it. But I, too, feel like something was a little lacking. No, correct that, it's more that things didn't quite happen the way I was exp0ecting them to happen and, therefore, the impact they made hit differently than I expected. And, of course, we also have Jules' arc. Even now I'm not sure how I liked that. I'll say that I've made my peace with it. I don't dislike it but I'm not sure how much sense it makes... In a way, I feel like it was pushed down my throat. If some hints of what was going to happen had been sprinkled from the beginning I would like it more. “Nothing is more complicated than rescuing someone who has no wish to be rescued.” That's the thing. Even though the series is over I still have so many questions.Questions about the lore of the island. The goddess, who seems like a very interesting entity, is hardly explained at all. And a lot of things happen that seem suspicious and are never explained. And what about all the things happening in the last book?I had theories, ideas, and hunches about the lore of the world but we never got deep enough into that for me to even finish formulating them. I thought we would have to get down to that in order to explain the ending of this book, of this series, but it did not happen. Instead, we only got more confusing additions to it that make no sense whatsoever except to make the plot go in the direction Blake wanted it to go. Things that seem to make no sense because we don't even have parameters to check with. That such a loss. This world could have been so much more if properly explored and explained. It could have made the story so much richer. “And you know that I loved you, don’t you, Junior? You know that I always will.” Even through all that I'm satisfied enough with the ending of things. It managed to accomplish all the things I wanted and make it fit well enough together. It was certainly better than I feared it was gonna be. “But nothing is forever, of course. Not even on Fennbirn, where for an age the mist held time itself hostage. Eventually, the priestesses would let the fires go out. Then they would be lit again on festival days or on the days commemorating the battle. And one day, there would be no flames at all.” _____________________Well, that was surprisingly way more rewarding than I thought it was gonna be. I actually really liked the ending. I was so incredibly hesitant to start this book and I think that helped a bit - the fact that I had incredibly low expectations and was open to see what the book had to offer - and, therefore, I actually really enjoyed it... I'm as surprised as the next person. Believe me. RTC. _____________________Time to finish this series. I don't what, exactly, I'm looking for here. I supposed a very epic finale is in order and, perhaps, something that feels more like the second book than the last one did. Something that makes sense and feels true to the story. I'm excited to see Arsione again and, in general, the three Queens that managed to steal my heart and I have an idea of how I wat their stories to end... I'll probably be disappointed if it doesn't happen. We'll see, I guess.

Star Rating: —> 4.5 StarsWow. I actually loved this so much & thought it was a crazy ride, but a rather well-fitting ending for the series. A few things I didn’t like, but maybe I’m just more critical of finales :-PMaybe a more detailed RTC ? Who knows. I feel so... off. As do I always when something has ended permanently. *Sighs*

** spoiler alert ** It makes me really happy how solid a conclusion this book was. We were left with four queens and no clear end path in sight. And immediately we are back in the thick of it, with lines of allegiance shifting constantly and the powers that are in play growing with every day. Every loss was a powerful one and we had time to cope before we had to face another. I even appreciate that the curses end was as I assumed it would be. All in all I was very damn pleased with all the pain this book brought to me.

Well this sure was full of some dark twists and turns!!The fourth and final book and can I just address the fact that this is called FIVE Dark Fates when a) we haven't had FOUR anything yetb) there are three queens - four if you count Jules - so whose fates are we talking about?Also YES I have read this book and still have no idea which five fates this book is referring to. But YES there are some dark ones. Yikes.WARNING: This review contains uncensored spoilers for the previous three books in the series.SO!Look, I can't remember my feelings towards Jules way back in book one but MY GOD SHE'S ANNOYING. Where did she even come from? Why is she even part of this story as anything more than Arsinoe's sidekick? And don't even get me started on Emilia. I got NO TIME for these whiny, 'I am super important' ladies right now. Go arm wrestle or something.I think it hurt most because Arsinoe is such a sass queen but these two girls reduce her to an eager-to-please shell. She's so much more interesting when she's just doing whatever the heck she wants and pretending she has zero feelings for Billy who is obviously the love of all of our lives. Bless you, Junior.Mira has been a fave from the start and while she's still pretty badass, she's gone a bit more, 'I love my sisters no matter what' and it's all a little too high-road for me. Where is the back stabbing and the fire and storms and general mayhem? *sigh* Tell you what, though ... (view spoiler)[I definitely did NOT see that particular fate coming! :O (hide spoiler)]QUEEN KATHERINE THE UNDEAD IS A SAVAGE. Again, not quite as villainous as I wanted but she's so creepy and dark and I just have the greatest fun picturing her as this pale, nasty, venomous QUEEN. I still don't get her love for P-Diddy though?? Girl, he pushed you down a chasm. Why you still like him? Poisoners, man. *shakes head*All in all it felt a little slow and underwhelming - not quite the grand finale I was hoping for - but it still had some fantastic dark moments unexpected thrills and chills. Everything felt pretty neatly tied up, and I am content with this ending.I still want more, though.Spin off, please? :D

4.5I have so many feelings!I really like this series and I am so sad it's over! I've read the first 3 books last year, but because I am HORRIBLE with finishing seires I've only read this last one now!I love this characters! Out of all the three queens, Arsinoe is for sure my favourite! I like Kat too, but during the series she has done some questionable things that made me like less and have conflicting feelings about her. I never really liked Mirabella though. I just found her annoying and I could never connect with her as I connected with Arsinoe and Kat. I love Billy, he will forever remain one of my favourite love interests! The plot was so good! I loved it! I got sucked in the book so fast! Ah, I can't believe this series is over. I am kinda sad about how this book ended, and if you know, you know. I love this series with my whole heart and if you have not read it yet, I highly recommend you do!

This finale was deeply satisfying for me. I know there are a lot of people out there who disagree, but it is what it is. Of course there were some issues in this final installment, but overall I loved this series and feel like it concluded well. So very glad this novel picked up after the third installment, which was a bit tedious for me.

I can't believe it's over... I feel empty*update*I struggled to fall asleep last night.I'm gonna miss this series and its characters so much.

I need this book like yesterday

Puntuación: 3,5Me ha gustado muchísimo darle punto y final a la historia de las reinas. Me he mordido las uñas en muchas partes y en otras se me han saltado las lágrimas, ya era mucho tiempo leyendo su historia y me encantaban las cuatro. El final ha sido impactante y me ha gustado mucho, aunque el libro no está lleno de acción, pero se lee rápido y bien gracias a que todo es muy interesante. Lo malo es la corrección, está lleno de erratas que molestan, porque no son precisamente 3 o 4.