Read Completed 11/14/24 | 3 stars
The story was fine, the series was fine. I felt like it built up to a lot only to be let down, like what we were working towards the whole time was totally meaningless. There were some cool elements that the author played with here -- they didn't make sense, but they were fun if you looks past it... but it didn't really feel like a series finale. In fact, it actually kind of felt like bridge book to the finale. There's lot of action and really, the whole entire series is plot-driven so that just kept moving forward and forward. 

Ultimately the biggest disappointment of this series was that I didn't get invested in the characters enough. An issue I had in the second book is that the main characters aren't really ever in any real danger. I don't FEEL for them and get that feeling in my gut where I'm worried and want them to be okay. Anything that happens to them just quickly gets resolved. Some characters die but no one I even cared about. Kill your darlings! Shock us! Scare us! Eh. 

I felt like this in the previous books as well, but I felt like there were a LOT of elements that felt too similar to Brandon Sanderson. I wanted this to be a fun Sanderson read alike but it was... too alike for me in a lot of ways. Even more came out to play here and I couldn't help but recognize them. I get that when writing fantasy, there's only so many things you can do and some of them will come off feeling like other books, but I wanted this to stand out a bit more. 

I'd say this was an easier, lighter fantasy series, which is totally okay but not what I was looking for. There are still some issues, I think, on which the author could have improved to even keep it lighter but still have more depth. Unforatunely I don't think it's something I'd recommend but I am glad I finished the series because it's been a while since I've been able to complete a series.