Later I'm going to come back and add the reading order of the series with links to the box sets. I think the author is capable of fleshing out certain areas of the narrative a tiny bit more. I suppose it felt more like an end to a chapter vs end of the book. I almost expected another chapter to start. This ends on a HFN, but the author needs to work on her ending lines too. The transition of the cliffhanger to the start of the next serial/chapter always seems rather abrupt and rough around the edges. My one criticism is that I'm noticing the author ends each serial with an abrupt cliffhanger. I'm getting the sense this author never includes ow drama or cheating, there's never any noncon either (the fae are fine maiming their women but won't molest them🤡). I actually really liked how the author portrayed the heroine's vice of self-harm and it came across as realistic. The author warns for suicide ideation (which occurs as well), but she doesn't warn for cutting. Caspan demonstrated quite a bit of mercy towards the heroine though, while the punishments Callie ultimately went through at the hands of the fae were more emotionally devastating for her.ītw, if you have any triggers regarding self-harm, specifically cutting, please know that the heroine cuts and it's graphically described continually throughout this series.

The thing about the fae is once they love someone they turn violent if they become displeased with the object of their affections.

Vale and Caspan are better suited for each other than Callie and Rain. If I had to pick between Callie and Vale's 'romance' I'd go with Vale's. Vale is totally happier than Callie though. The author exceeded at expressing how horrifying fae love can be. I'm wondering if Starbuck at all influenced how the author wrote Vale. This installment continued to give me Battlestar Galactica vibes in a cool way. It's a feat the author made me like this setting, because I haven't craved anything post-apocalyptic since COVID.

At no point did I get the sense the author was serving the typical romance audience (except for when Caspan said 'You're mine' lmao I can't get away from that phrase in romance). I admire the author because anytime an author writes a morally ambiguous heroine they'll get critical reviews complaining about how the heroine wasn't likable. The author explored how someone like Vale would change and grow in a post-apocalyptic environment and didn't shy away from the ugliness. She had a dry sense of humour, level of self-awareness, and good amount of negative personality traits that are rare to find in heroines. Vale could be a stone cold bitch when she wanted, and I adored reading her cynical pov. This was everything I wanted Laura Thalassa's 4 Horseman series to be and more. I think this might be one of my favorite fae stories.

Dark fae quinn blackbird