2.5 stars

This got a little dark for me. I don’t usually mind dark storylines, but turning something that was based on Pride and Prejudice so dark just didn’t sit right with me.
I like what the author did with many of the characters—Leyda (Lydia), Curdred (Mr. Collins), and Mrs. Bennet—and I admire the imagination and love for Pride and Prejudice that inspired this trilogy. But I didn’t enjoy this book like I did the first two. Maybe the death of Charis in the first book should have warned me of the grimness to come, but it didn’t prepare me for the sad turn taken in the second book and the atmosphere of sorrow and dread that pervaded most of this one.
I’m not sure I understood or was convinced by the denouement either. That might be due to faulty memory or just fatigue from all the drama and sadness by the time I got there.
I’m curious what might come next from this author. I hope it will be a story that’s not based on a beloved classic. She proved in the second novel that she’s capable of writing a story that doesn’t need to be propped up by another, but I think the original basis on P&P caused some dissonance when she launched into a wholly different, much darker story.
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For my full, non-spoiler review: https://christianlovingbooks.blogspot.com/2020/04/flamebringer-review.html ( )

I really liked the consistent, subtle theme of characters defying surface-level expectations and contributing in different ways. Overall, though, I was underwhelmed. I can't quite put my finger on why, but it just felt like something was missing that would have improved cohesion and my investment. ( )

For my full, non-spoiler review: https://christianlovingbooks.blogspot.com/2020/04/flamebringer-review.html ( )

A solid, tense conclusion to Heartstone and Dragonshadow. However, I suspect it would have made more of an impact had I read the first two books recently. It assumes that the reader remembers more worldbuilding details -- about history and family connections and magical folk -- than I did. And because I found such details confusing, I didn’t pay close attention to some of the history and politics revealed in this book, and those things turned out to be unexpectedly important.

A trilogy in much need of a glossary. ( )