5 Stars for the Entire Trilogy!

When you take two men who never in a million years would ever deem to look at the other with anything less than contempt and bring them full circle to a place where they stand united, is truly a feat of genius.

This was one of the most hard fought wins, as Damen and Laurent struggle externally and internally to defeat so many obstacles. The slow weaving and ultimately, the unraveling of how that comes to play out was impressive. Each had to overcome not only their countrymen's loyalty, the shadow of their ancestors' legacy, but also what was weighing so heavily in their own hearts.

Proclamations may be sparse, emotions may be nuanced, but actions say a million things, and these two prove over and over that what always was, doesn't always need to remain so. Anger, distrust, and hate turn into a painful yearning for something more than what they simply were bred and expected to do.

In the end, this was a brutal, cunning story about justice and redemption, forgiveness and destiny, as Damen and Laurent come together to make their own new history, their own new truth.

Epic scope, epic feels, epic brilliance. ( )

Oh my...goodness. This book, this series, ugh, it was so magical and amazing, and breathtaking. Everything I needed! Such sweetness as well, I'm happy the way it ended, I suspected far worse. Now I am just sad it is all over. I read this book in a few hours...I couldn't put it down no matter how hard I tried.

LOVED IT! ( )

Some ambivalence here, but I'm giving it a 4 anyway.

I quite enjoyed the romantic arc in this final volume. In my review of the first book I observed that fictional romance is driven by conflict, but in Kings Rising the romantic narrative changes direction, is no longer energized by conflict but by healing, trust, resolution. The result is tender and sexy and psychologically raw, and it only works because Pacat has created such compelling, well-drawn characters. Damen is still a bit of a doormat, but he's a kind and muscular doormat and I am pretty much okay with that.

But oh man, the plot! Obviously I showed up for kissing and not political machinations, but I do wish that the author had made some different choices here. The book is well-paced and has many fun and exciting moments, as well as a satisfying ending. However, it relies on a LOT of hand-waving, concealed information, and strategically terrible decisions.

I could shrug off some wibbly-wobbly plotting, but I think there's an underlying problem: the trilogy's villains are not nearly as strong as its heroes, and they end up behaving like caricatures. Scenes where they could deliver a real emotional punch feel overblown and mustache-twirly instead. For all the darkness in this trilogy, the narrative seems to avoid looking directly at human evil. Perhaps this was a strategic decision on the author's part, but it felt like something was missing.

Overall, I loved the heck out of this trilogy. 4/5, would fangirl again. ( )

A wonderful conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. I love the new characters introduced, the various plots that Laurent and Damen faced and overcame. It's tense and thrilling and fun and satisfying. Sorry it took so long for me to finish it, but happy I did. ( )

Solo puedo decir que amé este libro ( )