Title: Fate of the Drowned (The Broken Lands #3)

Author: Carrie Summers

Pub. Date: December 14, 2017

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

The Empire is shattered. From the northern ice fields to the storm-battered coast, chasms gash the landscape. Hordes of twisted beasts ravage towns and cities, and still, the people riot.

At the heart of the Empire, an ancient seal will soon fail. But Savra and Kostan will fight to the end–and there lies the Empire’s last hope for salvation.

This will be a spoiler free review.

I enjoyed this finale, let me start there. Overall, this was a good book, a good completion to the trilogy as a whole. I did have a few issues though…well one and it’s kind of an issue I have with a lot of high fantasy/journey books.

The ending never feels truly satisfying.

I often find that in YA/NA fantasy trilogies that the final battle never truly has the emotional weight it’s supposed to. Either the final battle is lackluster and over much too quickly, or its peace talked away.

I can count on one hand how many trilogies that haven’t left me feeling let down, my hopes dashed upon the rocks. Unfortunately, Fate of the Drowned left me feeling a bit dejected. Its Epilogue was a saving grace, in my opinion, and without it I would have been very mad at how it ended. I also feel like the book should have been longer. The whole trilogy came to a close in the last 20ish pages, which is another thing YA/NA fantasy book tend to do. It drives me nuts, honestly. I get anxious and terrified when there’s still so much left unresolved and there are like 20ish pages left in the book. Ya’ll that’s not enough time.

I also think that the long break I took between book 2 and book 3 didn’t help matters, because it was a bit of a struggle to get back into the story and feel those emotional weights that were already in place. \

We’re thrown right back into Savra’s and Kostan’s fight to save their world, and everything looks super bleak. The odds are stacked against them, and they’re basically racing against a clock. The world needs to believe that Kostan will fight for them, that he sees them, and they need to know that he’s one of them. When all hope seems lost, what will they do to save the world.

Again, overall, I liked this book and enjoyed it. I was reminded of why I’ve fallen in love with Carrie’s writing. She’s so good at it, and making the world come to life in your mind. She’s so good at creating these wonderfully flawed human characters that make you feel. I’m already anticipating what book of hers I’m going to read next, there are so many to choose from. If you’re interested, you can check out my reviews for Heart of the Empire and Rise of the Storm as well as this Spotlight Post on Carrie. The Broken Lands series is out in whole, so you can pick it up whenever and I encourage you to do so!