And I’ve finally come to an end with this Muirwood series! It’s been awhile since I last finished a series this quickly, though I have to admit that it being an audiobook GREATLY helped me finish it. Like always, SPOILERS for previous books
Upon discovering she is the lost heir of Pry-Ree, Lia is forced to leave the protection of Muirwood once again. She embarks upon a perilous journey across the kingdom where she avoids capture and begs passage on a ship bound to Dahomey. Lia’s safety is in further jeopardy when she finally reaches Dochte Abbey and learns the hetaera have taken control. Lia must gather all her strength and muster the courage to defeat them, for if she fails, the consequence would be a world in ruin and the shattered lives of those she loves.
This was such a hard book to read! Not because it was boring or anything, but because it was the last book. Since the previous book it’s been hinted that the end of Muirwood is coming. People are going to die and Lia needs to find a way to save the Abbeys and her friends. The revelation at the end of the book is explained further here and it was really nice to see part of the past. I really liked Lia’s father as he went about Muirwood, planting all the seeds that would help Lia in all her adventures in the first book
Like the second, there was some romance here but since all the relationships had already been established, a lot of Lia’s thoughts just flowed. Yes, she was desperate to save Colvin but she also knew what her duties were. There was that struggle for the things she wanted and the things she had to do, and I liked how she ended up balancing those desires
Closer to the end I was a tad confused as some parts started to become rushed and muddled. The way it was told, I feel like it would have been better done as a film. If anyone has seen the Naruto movie, I think it’s called The Last, where the previews show that Naruto dies and his friends are burying him (lol, is that the right one?). But then it turns out that the lack of context made the seer think he’d died? Well, there’s a similar thing going on here where Lia and Ellowyn see the same vision of Lia dying and being buried. And when it ends up happening I was just flummoxed because you can’t kill her, she’s the main character!
Well, it’s starting around that time when we get a back and forth telling of what actually occurred. Later on there’s also another incident where we don’t really know what happened to Colvin. We only hear rumours and then we finally get the truth at the very end, a few minutes before the book ends. I almost feel cheated in a way because, since book one, we’ve witnessed every adventure that’s happened but because Lia and Colvin are no longer together here, we only hear about what Colvin has gone through
I think it would be nice to get a 3.5 book from Colvin’s point of view! Not only to see what happened but to get into his head about the situation in Muirwood and about Lia
In the last book I was also curious as to what role Ellwyn would play, considering she’s the heir to Pry-Ree and needs to marry the to-be King. We actually got to see in her diary between chapters and I liked and hated her. I was surprised that she was getting pretty adept at using the Medium since she’d had nearly Zero affinity in the previous book, but also, she was interested in Colvin. Like, GIRL. Colvin belongs to Lia!
In the end I wasn’t convinced with how she was married off and disappeared without Lia confronting her. (In truth, I wasn’t too convinced with any of the marriage stuff but I think that’s just because I don’t really believe in that concept)
As a series I think I’d rate Muirwood a 4/5 because I really enjoyed it. It had characters I really liked, a couple I wanted to be together, and an interesting world based on religion.
As the third book I feel like it closed a story but left me with some questions, especially considering [SPOILERS] that Lia was the real Ellowyn Demont. Does her becoming Aldermaston free her from her duties? Or is she just not going to tell anyone (not that there are many people to tell at that point)? Would she reunite with her friends? What exactly is the world doing now with the Mastons pretty much all killed, the Abbey’s destroyed, and a new order in power? It’s implied that she finally learned how to read but who taught her? Were the Abbeys rebuilt? What about the fake Ellowyn? What was her fate? Did people just believe she was Ellowyn Demont and did they ever find out she wasn’t? Since she became a Hetaria, how did that turn out? Since, with a kiss she could kill people?
If I could just have one more book that goes into these things with Lia and Colvin as the characters still, I think I’d be a bit more satisfied. But for now I’m having a bit of an unsatisfied aftertaste. I ended up rating this book a 3
For now I’m going to put this series down and get back to the Kingfountain series but I’ll be back soon to check out the Covenant of Muirwood, which I believe takes place in the new Muirwood.
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