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SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

CW:  Murder; blood; warfare; emotional/financial abuse; reference to the murder of a pregnant woman

I don’t even know where to start or how to summarize my thoughts on this book. I was literally speechless after reading it and feeling so many things. This book destroyed me in the best possible way. I’m just sitting here, days after finishing it, in awe of Ilona Andrews’ talents.

Honestly, I don’t know how to summarize this book without giving massive spoilers. Suffice to say, Catalina ends up investigating a murder that leads to a much bigger plot just like virtually every other book in the Hidden Legacy series. 

Now, were there some things I wish had been given a bit more attention? Yes. Did I care? Nope.

The story and action picks up right out the gate and does not let up until the end. My lord, was this a wild, amazing, fun RIDE, and I was HERE for every second of it. Seriously, I could not put this down as THINGS were happening. I couldn’t wait to see what happens next. This book has some of the most epic magical fight scenes, and I feel like that’s saying something for this series. The stakes also felt higher than ever as I was on the edge of my seat and stressed out at times, hoping all my favorite characters would make it out safe by the end. But I did love how they wove in humor to break the tension. 

Ilona Andrews had a lot of plot points and outstanding questions to wrap up in this book, and yet they managed to tie everything together seamlessly. Seriously, slow clap for them as I loved watching all the pieces from all the previous books come together. I’m in awe at their ability to plant the seeds for some of the big reveals ages ago. At every twist, turn and reveal, I kept having to put the book down to process everything that just happened as I was feeling all the emotions. At times, I was – dare I say – shook? Seriously, though, I couldn’t have been more satisfied with how they pulled all the plotlines together and wrapped everything up. 

I also LOVED seeing so many familiar faces pop up again in this book. It kind of felt like in Avengers: Endgame when everyone shows up. The Baylors and everyone in their extended orbit have grown so much since we first met them in Burn For Me, and it was amazing to see the badass powerful magical House they’ve become.

One thing I would have liked a little bit more of would be the romance. While I still really enjoy Alessandro and Catalina as a couple, their relationship doesn’t hold a candle to Rogan and Nevada’s relationship. I feel like we didn’t see it develop and grow as much throughout Catalina’s books as we did with Nevada. Alessandro is a harder character to get to read on his thoughts and emotions. However, by the end of this, I had a much better appreciation for why he’s like that and understood him more than I did going into it. 

Catalina’s also gone through a serious transformation in these books. I loved watching the evolution of her character. We learn some very interesting things about her powers, and I was fascinated what that meant for her. I feel like I understood her and some of her actions in previous books better at the end of this. I still cannot believe she is only 22, but I felt so proud to have watched her grow up over the last three books and step into the head of House role and own her power. 

Despite this being the last book in Catalina’s arc of the Hidden Legacy series, I also loved that Ilona Andrews didn’t shy away from introducing new characters and even more types of magic. I really loved the addition of Konstantin, and that’s all I will say about that as explaining who he is feels spoilery.

I’m desperately hoping this isn’t the last book in the series. I’m not ready to say goodbye to this world and these characters. I do feel like Ilona Andrews left the door open for Arabella to take the reins as there were some new things at the end that could be explored, and a new character was introduced who would make an interesting love interest for her. But the status of those books seems a bit up in the air. And that last chapter, the only one with a title, almost feels like it was a goodbye. I’m going to keep my fingers and toes crossed that we will get Arabella’s books because I’m seriously going to be devastated if we don’t.

I honestly could keep going on about this book as I could gush about it for ages. Seriously, thank you to Ilona Andrews for writing such a fantastic book. I cannot wait for more people to read it as I need to talk about THINGS that happened! Run, don’t walk, to grab this book. If you love the Hidden Legacy series, definitely pick this one up. If you’ve never read this series, now is the perfect time to start as both Catalina and Nevada’s stories are wrapped up. 

Thank you to Avon/Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts, ideas and opinions expressed in this review are my own.