Feelings were had. Tears were shed. Laughter was ... laughed?

Anyways long story short I LOVED THIS SO MUCH ( )

Pretty good ending for the series.
The thing I really like about these books is that the main hero has no special abilities in a race where they all have powers. Usually, the books are about a regular girl who discovers that she can do something crazy and is special. Em is special, because she doesn't have powers. She doesn't rely on them and has worked hard to develop other skills. She's smart and cunning and cares for her people. That's why she and Cas are a good match. They both had some hard choices to make, but kept giving people chances to do the right thing. The supporting cast is a lot of fun as well, especially Galo and Aren. Their friendship was my favorite part of this book. They both grew and learned and succeeded with the others' help. The ending wrapped up nicely with no real loose ends. The author paced well and knew when to end the series. ( )

I still enjoyed it, but I felt like it just wasn't as exciting as the last two. ( )

Book three, Allied finishes off the Ruined trilogy. This is a fantasy series.

Emelina is trying to control her sister Olivia, but Olivia kills any human she encounters. Reasoning with her is impossible. Aren wants to rescue Iria, but he can’t leave Olivia because he is stronger than her. If needed, Aren will have to protect the unprotected. Cas, meanwhile, is working to be a king, someone his people trust and admire. If Em returns to him, will his people accept a Ruined?

It’s inevitable that a battle between sisters will ensure that Galo, Aren, Cas, Iria, the people of Lera, and the people of Ruina will be in the middle. Olivia cannot use her powers on Em, but Olivia needs to be the dominant leader and undermine Em. To be a leader, one must have followers. When Em leaves, Olivia finds that she cannot strategize. She just kills--that’s her strategy. Will her followers stay? Can she hold the Ruina together? Em, however, has purpose and is a natural leader, so some of the Ruina follow her. Fate wants Cas and Em together, as circumstances constantly bring them together. So, how can they keep the other kingdoms from attacking, repair Lera, get Ruina and Lerans living together, rescue Iria, and contain Olivia before they all die?

I enjoyed the trilogy. Just a warning--it’s a violent trilogy, but the violence is fantastical. The Ruina use their minds, which one can’t do in real life. What they do with their minds is pretty violent, so be aware. Fictional violence doesn’t bother me, so I enjoyed the final book in the trilogy. What I like about the trilogy is that the characters are basically honest. Often in stories, characters lie or a character mis-understands something which moves the plot. In this trilogy, the romance partners actually are kind to one another; they have arguments, but they are typical of a couple in the circumstances they are in; and, they don’t lie to each other. The plot is based around controlling Olivia and Jovita, who only want power and don’t make decisions that help the majority of their people. ( )