Destiny of Ashes , the last and final book was, in a word, disappointing.

I'd hoped this one would be the one where we'd see some massive character development, where Leighton would go from the self-sacrificing, victim-of-her-circumstances girl to someone strong, self-assured and confident in herself and in her relationships with her mates. But, nope. Zero of that took place.

All we got was recycled plot and the same issues of the previous books presented in a different font, so to speak.

Leighton's incessant internal monologue went from "What if I don't have powers?" to "What if I can't control my powers?". It was a constant, never ending cycle of the same thoughts repeating over and over again. This chick was exhausting. I like melodrama but when it doesn't lead anywhere, what else is left but to get tired and annoyed with all the self-doubt, angst and the tears? No one likes a pitiful leading lady.

I desperately wanted her to pull it together, but she never did. Her character had literally no growth arc, and if at the end of all the mess this trilogy threw at her the main character was the same exact person as in the very first book, then undoubtedly something went catastrophically wrong along the way.

The ending was so underwhelming. All the villains they were defeated maybe 15 minutes into the final battle Leighton and the guys entered expecting to be thoroughly decimated. Their victory and happy ending didn't feel earned or properly fought for. It was too rushed.

I still liked Tessa Hale's general writing style and some parts and aspects of this trilogy, so I'll definitely be checking out other of her series, but this one didn't deliver as strong an ending as I would have liked. I hope I'll have better luck with her other books.