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General Opinion:.

An amazing ending to this wonderful Shepherd King Duology, this is now one of my favorite fantasy reads, and it had my full heart. 

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​Characters and Plot

We get Elm, Ravyn, and Elspeth's pov in this book, and I am loving it. First of all, I did not expect to love Elm that hard, like hello, I was smitten with Ravyn in the first book, and in the second book, Elm had me in a chokehold. Elm needs a hug; he was abused as a child by his brother, hating his heritage, his blood family, and had always been protected by his Scythe card and Ravyn. But after he met Ione, his true self came to light, and oh my god, their love story, just pure perfection. Ione is amazing, I love how she just straight up cold and cruel under the effect of the Maiden Card, which I weirdly prefer over her real self. 

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We don't get much of Elspeth in this book, which is why I deducted half a star from my rating. But it honestly makes sense, as Elspeth is now trapped inside her own body, with the Nightmare fully taking over, her moments with Ravyn still make me giggle, though. 

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I finally got the Nightmare back story, and my heart did break a little for his tragic life, and what it could have been. Also, please tell me why the author loves to give me a heart attack, like I thought one of my favorite characters was going to die. 

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The plot in this was so good, the stakes, the image of the forest, how Ione and Elm's relationship blossom, all were blended so well together. And can we talk about the ending, It was perfect, literally one of the best endings I've read, the most satisfying one. 

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​​​​​​​​​​​Conclusion

If you love fantasy with a romance subplot, but also want an ominous, gothic vibe to it, then the Shepherd King duology is for you. Totally worth the hype that it got. 

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