Review--From the Grave by Kresely Cole

 

Kresley Cole’s New York Times bestselling Arcana Chronicles series comes to a spectacular and fiery conclusion in this final installment.

When even the gods hold their breath . . .

To defeat the Emperor and Fortune, Evie, the great Empress of Arcana, must repair her bond with Death, despite the earth-shattering developments between them.

And danger lurks in every shadow . . .

Their allies—a sea witch, a band of roving warriors, and more than a couple of rogues—overcome terrifying obstacles to help them. But when Jack makes a shocking discovery, the fallout threatens to tear their alliance apart.

One girl could deliver salvation—or doom.

If the Empress and her friends can remain united, will their powers be enough to defeat a catastrophic curse on the world, or will hellfire reign forever? The end looms for us all until the best hand wins. . . .

 

 

Five years of waiting and at long last Kresley Cole’s From the Grave is finally in my hands! Naturally, the time away has left my memory a little wilted but I am happy to report that I was able to dive back into the thick of things with little issue!

What I could remember from The Dark Calling was that things were chaotic! Paul had played Aric against Evie and broken the trust between them. Evie returns to him to give things another try since she is carrying his child while Jack goes off to try to find a lead on Richter and put an end to the game once and for all.

Meanwhile, Evie and Aric are trying to mend what was broken between them. It was heart-wrenching to say the least as I saw why Evie is reluctant to truly trust Aric, and seeing Aric trying his best to prove he will never hurt her again.

The essence of time in this book is surreal. It moves in droves, sometimes a chapter will be a day or two later, then the next it’s weeks or months! The pacing to this one was done so well! I could not get enough of this book! I loved being back and I loved seeing the characters again! It was just enchanting! The sense of imminent danger throughout this book made for high tension and I loved every moment of it!

What I wasn’t expecting was the last quarter of the book or so! I expected the battle to end all battles and it was very intense, but the outcomes that came after it were unexpected. It was one that left me with mixed emotions too. I have always said that this series had me struggling to “choose” my team. I fell for both guys and honestly couldn’t make “my choice.” What ended up happening still left me feeling baffled, needless to say.

In the end, the ending was absolutely perfect! This series has put me through a lot of turmoil over the years of reading it—not even touching on the waiting periods—the emotional turmoil I went through was one of the most intense book experiences I’ve ever had! I positively loved it all! This series was so unique, so intense…words cannot truly describe how much I loved it!

If you’ve ever had an interest in tarot, or enjoy a  thrilling dystopian series filled with action, romance, mythology…this is the series for you! It is YA, but a very mature YA, much like we see in the genre these days. Even in its early beginning days I would still couple it to a mature YA, but maybe not as intense. Regardless this series was incredibly epic and I am ever so grateful to Kresley Cole for finishing this series. My heart is so happy!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars