[SPOILERS BELOW]
My rating is a lie. This is not the best book in the series. I was just so emotional about it being over that I couldn't contain myself. My heart says it's a 4.5 but my brain says it's a 3.5.
I found quite a few things in this final chapter of the Violet Eden Chronicles to be predictable. I think anyone that has paid attention knew there was only one way for Violet to attain her "true" strength, and that's what made it so frustrating. I am, however, impressed at the reasoning behind it. That the only way for it all to work was for it to go the way it went. (This is very confusing when I'm trying to avoid spoilers.) Like Nox is to Uri, the pain that Violet goes through is necessary to bring about what she becomes.
I am not happy with how Phoenix's story ended. I believe he deserved more. I think it should have been obvious that [okay now I have to include SPOILERS] once he became human, he would realize that his "love" for Violet wasn't a human kind of love and been able to move on much easier. Violet "seeing hope" in his eyes is not enough for me to feel positively about his future.
I did love Grey. For being a new introduction in a last volume, he quickly became one of my favorites. Which made his loss all that much harder to bear. I also loved how Grey was a metaphor. It didn't occur to me at first - which it probably should have since his name is GREY - but he is clearly a representation of the struggle that Violet has gone through throughout the series. While his death was sad, it was also necessary because it represents the Violet's re-birth and new form/function/life.
I did not really like how Lincoln simply became a tool in this book. He lost everything that made him an individual character and was simply something for Violet to work against/with. I feel like it wasn't true to who he had been previously.
I feel Steph was extremely under-utilized in this story and became a terrible "planning a wedding" stereotype. Rarely was she given much dialogue other than "wedding stuff" and "Oh Violet get it over it and be with Lincoln". While we see how she has progressed in regards to her position within the Academy, we don't get to see much of the work she actually does, and I was disappointed with that.
Finally, although I know the story had to end the way it ended, it still wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want it to be a 100% happy ending. The draw in these books for me was the torture that ran through each character's psyche. People grow and move on from the terrible things that happen to them, but they are never completely gone, and I feel like the overly-happy ending was sweeping all the pain and struggle under the rug. I feel like the losses in the final battle weren't enough, and that both Violet and Lincoln should have lost someone that was very important to them both (Spencer? Griffin?) so that it was clear that no matter how much things had changed, they will always live a hard, sad life. Because that's the truth of it, as far as I can see.
I love Violet Eden. This is a character that will be in my bookish heart for the rest of my life. It would have been impossible for me to not have issues with this final book, no matter what happened, because it's very difficult for me to see her story end. However, I am grateful and thankful to Jessica Shirvington for bringing these characters into my life. And for that my heart wins and the book gets a 4.5.
My rating is a lie. This is not the best book in the series. I was just so emotional about it being over that I couldn't contain myself. My heart says it's a 4.5 but my brain says it's a 3.5.
I found quite a few things in this final chapter of the Violet Eden Chronicles to be predictable. I think anyone that has paid attention knew there was only one way for Violet to attain her "true" strength, and that's what made it so frustrating. I am, however, impressed at the reasoning behind it. That the only way for it all to work was for it to go the way it went. (This is very confusing when I'm trying to avoid spoilers.) Like Nox is to Uri, the pain that Violet goes through is necessary to bring about what she becomes.
I am not happy with how Phoenix's story ended. I believe he deserved more. I think it should have been obvious that [okay now I have to include SPOILERS] once he became human, he would realize that his "love" for Violet wasn't a human kind of love and been able to move on much easier. Violet "seeing hope" in his eyes is not enough for me to feel positively about his future.
I did love Grey. For being a new introduction in a last volume, he quickly became one of my favorites. Which made his loss all that much harder to bear. I also loved how Grey was a metaphor. It didn't occur to me at first - which it probably should have since his name is GREY - but he is clearly a representation of the struggle that Violet has gone through throughout the series. While his death was sad, it was also necessary because it represents the Violet's re-birth and new form/function/life.
I did not really like how Lincoln simply became a tool in this book. He lost everything that made him an individual character and was simply something for Violet to work against/with. I feel like it wasn't true to who he had been previously.
I feel Steph was extremely under-utilized in this story and became a terrible "planning a wedding" stereotype. Rarely was she given much dialogue other than "wedding stuff" and "Oh Violet get it over it and be with Lincoln". While we see how she has progressed in regards to her position within the Academy, we don't get to see much of the work she actually does, and I was disappointed with that.
Finally, although I know the story had to end the way it ended, it still wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want it to be a 100% happy ending. The draw in these books for me was the torture that ran through each character's psyche. People grow and move on from the terrible things that happen to them, but they are never completely gone, and I feel like the overly-happy ending was sweeping all the pain and struggle under the rug. I feel like the losses in the final battle weren't enough, and that both Violet and Lincoln should have lost someone that was very important to them both (Spencer? Griffin?) so that it was clear that no matter how much things had changed, they will always live a hard, sad life. Because that's the truth of it, as far as I can see.
I love Violet Eden. This is a character that will be in my bookish heart for the rest of my life. It would have been impossible for me to not have issues with this final book, no matter what happened, because it's very difficult for me to see her story end. However, I am grateful and thankful to Jessica Shirvington for bringing these characters into my life. And for that my heart wins and the book gets a 4.5.
