*I received a digital copy from TBR and Beyond Tours via Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. All reviews are my own.*
In series fashion, this review may reveal some spoilers about So Let Them Burn, so if you have not read the first book in the Divine Traitors duology, why are you here? Shoo shoo!
After a year of anticipation, we finally have the concluding part of Kamilah Cole's Divine Traitors duology! Remember the buzz around her debut, So Let Them Burn, which only heightened the excitement for her next novel? I, for one, enjoyed SLTB, and now I'm eager to see if her sequel, This Ends in Embers, lives up to its predecessor. Thanks to the same touring company (TBR and Beyond) that brought us SLTB, I can now share my thoughts and final review of the series as a whole!
"Faron Vincent was once the saint of San Irie. Now, she’s done the unthinkable: betrayed her country. Alone, disgraced, and kidnapped, Faron is forced to help Iya grow his bloody empire. With her soul bonded to a ruthless killer, Faron has become an enemy to her people… and she fears they might be right.
Elara Vincent—the new Empyrean—must undo the damage her sister has caused. San Irie has been brought back to the brink of war as Iya proclaims no nation will be safe from his brutal invasion. But how can Elara save her sister, her best friend, her country, and her world when she’s already cracking under the pressure?
This heart-pounding conclusion to the Divine Traitors duology pushes these unforgettable heroines to their breaking point and beyond. Because when the lines between hero and villain are blurred, deadly sacrifices must be made."
I switched back and forth between reading this book and listening to it via audio a lot. As before, we welcome Kamali Minter and Keylor Leigh, who voiced Faron and Elara. It was an 11-hour and 26-minute ride, and I'm happy to hear these ladies again. It's special when you can book the same narrators continuously for a series. We don't like cast switches over here! We started with you, and we're going to ride out with you!
When we left the story off in SLTB, Faron accidentally freed an ancient evil set on burning the world for domination, losing her status as the Child Empyrean in the process. Her sister Elara became the new (Maiden) Empyrean to right the mistakes her younger sister made in an effort to free her from the enemy lines. We continue this drama in the sophomore TEIE. TEIE's became a very political book. It's to be expected when a previous war was just completed, and the losing side is still trying to win their get back. In this case, because Faron let loose a powerful dragon set on taking over the world, all nations in the San Irie universe must come together to fight the winged demon off to keep their freedom.
I won't say I had a hard time following the change of events in the plotline, but the focus on trying to save Faron and introducing all of the politics with Elara took away from the story. I get it; it gets bigger if a problem can't be contained. And for a sequel that's continuing from a cliffhanger, you have to go big or go home when finalizing the tale. However, a very small disconnect changed my thoughts on how I should view this story.
When we look at Faron's story, we go through her reckoning of trying to figure out if she is still a hero or a monster. In the words of Kanye West, "First they hate you, then they love you, then they hate you again" rings off loudly throughout this book. Faron experiences a lot of growth in trying to figure out if she's a villain for empathizing with her captor or if she has been like this, but with God-like powers. I don't like that she didn't spend much time figuring out how to escape or put other plans into motion. It was as if she started poking around and gave up immediately if someone simply said, I know what you're doing. There was no bark in her bite when it came to resisting. But she damn sure was learning all she could about how to control and bend her will.
Her sister Elara had a surprising arc from being a nobody to becoming a hated somebody due to the actions of her younger sister. In Book 1, Elara wanted to do everything to get under from being the Child Empyrean's sister. Now, she's the new Maiden Empyrean and is figuring out how to become her person, all while staying true to herself and saving the world. I liked this for Elara because we finally watched her choose which panties she wanted to wear, and she put them on herself. She finally created a voice to speak out, all while trying to save her island from further torment. I didn't care for her relationship plot with Signey or the politics behind gathering up the nations, and I kind of miss the dragon bond she had going for herself, but I can't deny the growth in her character.
Overall, I rated this book 3-stars. I expected an outcome like this; I just thought there would be more pizzazz. I'm not fond of the expanded politics, especially since it was surface-level, and the body-snatching throughout Faron's side of the story was getting confusing for me. My feelings towards the book may also have to do with my rushing to finish it due to fulfilling tour obligations. With that being said, I will reread it at a later date.
I'm not entirely finished with the Divine Traitors series, so I won't be giving an overall rating of the duology. I'll be back!
This Ends in Embers is available now!
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