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As a kid I loved the first three books of the Stravaganza series. But as I grew older I felt it wasn't really a series that grows with you when I was reading the second trilogy. It took several years to finally finish the series.

It was a super fast read, I finished it within four hours of returning home from the library (and cooked in between as well!). I've always liked the series, but was a bit wary to read this last book. All books have followed the same kind of formula, and I've grown a bit tired of it. In this book they emphasize how much everything is the same for all of them, but it made me sigh. The story was interesting as ever, there is very little which can ruin a renaissance Italy setting for me. Expect lots of intrigues (fun!) and a lot of not so subtle explaining of the intrigues (not fun).

I do think that if I was twelve years old again and reading this complete series, I would have loved it from start to finish. But as it is, I've become way more critical of my reads than I was ten years ago and also it still really has the feel of a children's book over it. ( )

'City of Swords', what to say... Let me start with this: I really do love the Stravaganza series as a whole. Everything from the characters to the settings to the overall concept-- I love it. 'City of Swords' is the sixth and final book in this under appreciated series. I'll miss jumping into Talia with the Stravaganti for many reasons, most of all because every time I opened a Stravaganza book, it felt like I was back in Italy!

On to 'City of Swords'... Is it my favorite of the series? No. Is it as engaging and entertaining as other Stravaganza books? No. Is it a good read for those who have read the books before it? Yes. Is it a fitting close to a fantastic series? Minus a few loose ends, I think so.

The writing style used in 'Swords' seemed different to me than the books before it. The downsides of the novel for me? The majority of the story was spent in the real world, rather than Talia. Also, we learned what was going on through long paragraphs of explanation, as opposed to seeing the action or learning it through dialogue. I didn't find Laura's character to be as fleshed out as the rest and her story, strangely enough, didn't hold as much as importance as I would have expected. The romance was between Laura and a certain someone was a nice addition to the story, but we, as readers, didn't get to see it develop enough to care as much as we should about it, I think.

Besides those concerns (that mostly had to do with Laura's plotline), I loved the interaction between the past stravaganti and loved, loved, loved everything that had to do with Luciano! His parts made me smile!

Do I wish this had been a more solid read? Of course. However, I'm glad I've taken these trips to Talia, seeing such wonderful places and meeting fun, interesting characters. I'll definitely miss following new Stavaganti into the new and unknown that is Talia. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12438630