First of all let me say that it is extremely hard to write this review without any spoilers, but I shall try. I enjoyed this, really enjoyed even...until the ending. But before I get to that, I'll recap the parts I liked the most. For the first time, Eugenie seems to be making real progress as a Queen, as a sister, a friend, and in general towards becoming a better person. She no longer charges into every situation without thinking of others first. Eugenie has to make the difficult choice of where to have children. The choice she makes is emotionally difficult for her, but ultimately safest for her twins. As a result, she meets a wonderful family and learns to appreciate a simple quieter lifestyle. But when Otherworld is threatened by a nasty winter blight, Eugenie and Dorian, along with a small group of their allies (even the plague that is Kiyo), rally to confront and destroy a new and mostly uknown enemy. Throughout all the fighting and choas that comes to pass, Eugenie doesn't forget to think of others first and how her actions will affect them. This is HUGE progress for her. She's not perfect, but she IS trying. In the final chapters a new twist to the Storm King's Prophecy is revealed and changes everything and NOTHING. But what becomes even more apparent is that Kiyo is an even BIGGER Douchebag than I ever imagined. I knew he became a single minded, selfish, twisted SCUMBAG but I never imagined he was so cold and calculated right from the begining...
Now...the ending. How could Miss Mead have Eugenie make a decision like that without consulting anyone or one person in particular?!? After all the progess Eugenie has made, her decision in regards to her children's future seems like something the "old Eugenie" would have done. It may be the "right" thing to do (we'll never know) but it wasn't her choice alone. I feel like had Eugenie chose differently there would have been quite a few more chapters to this book and the author took the easy way out. I know that sounds harsh, but the book seemed to progess in a certian direction with Eugenie and Dorian's relationship. They were building trust and trying to better understand eachother and they deserved better than the sloppy ending they got. As a result, I felt cheated as a reader. I was so excited to see how they would handle things together. I couldn't wait to read their reactions to everything that was revealed. I didn't get any of it, NADDA, just some brief thoughts of Eugenies and a bunch of indecision. It was very frustrating. I'm sure I'll pick up another of Miss Mead's book eventually. However, since I was thoroughly disappointed to the ending of another of her series, I fear this may become a pattern.
Now...the ending. How could Miss Mead have Eugenie make a decision like that without consulting anyone or one person in particular?!? After all the progess Eugenie has made, her decision in regards to her children's future seems like something the "old Eugenie" would have done. It may be the "right" thing to do (we'll never know) but it wasn't her choice alone. I feel like had Eugenie chose differently there would have been quite a few more chapters to this book and the author took the easy way out. I know that sounds harsh, but the book seemed to progess in a certian direction with Eugenie and Dorian's relationship. They were building trust and trying to better understand eachother and they deserved better than the sloppy ending they got. As a result, I felt cheated as a reader. I was so excited to see how they would handle things together. I couldn't wait to read their reactions to everything that was revealed. I didn't get any of it, NADDA, just some brief thoughts of Eugenies and a bunch of indecision. It was very frustrating. I'm sure I'll pick up another of Miss Mead's book eventually. However, since I was thoroughly disappointed to the ending of another of her series, I fear this may become a pattern.
I was under the impression that this was the conclusion to the Dark Swan series and it felt that way until the very end of the book and now I am just not sure that this series is over. As a whole, I was disappointed in this installment. A good portion of the book was Eugenie hiding out from her enemies in order to have her babies without them being killed. And the rest of the book was a small traveling party (Dorian, Kiyo, Jasmine and a few servants(?)) journeying to the Yew Lands to confront the Queen who had put a winter spell on all the lands not under her control. I found the constant "talks" with Kiyo annoying and repetitive. And the ending came out of nowhere and was way to rushed and unproven yet immediately accepted by all parties. I felt that Eugenie's final decision regarding her children was just wrong and if the series continues, it will surely bite her in the butt.
Wow, what a disappointing ending to a great series! I really did not like the way this book ended--not a satisfying installment of the story, and Eugenie's decisions at the end of the book didn't sit well with me at all.
