Review: The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary E. Pearson

Title: The Beauty of Darkness

Series: The Remnant Chronicles #3
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: August 02, 2016
Pages: 679
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Dystopian
Source: Ebook
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Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.

MY REVIEW

This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I am totally weeping right now! OMG, this is the perfect end for this series. =D I admit, I was not as enthralled by the first book of this series like most others were. The series grew on me. It got better with each book. I am glad to have another favorite series to fawn over. 

I loved the twists and turns in this final installment of The Remnant Chronicles. The political intrigue was great! I honestly did not have the traitors pinned down, so when the identities came to light I was a little shocked. And that is awesome! I hate predictability in books, as I have said before in my reviews, so anytime an author can surprise me I am totally jazzed. Other things in the book did not happen as I suspected either, like how things ended and who ended up with who in the end. The fates of the main characters. 

The character development was so intense! OMG, loved how these characters grew into my heart! A lot of my surprise at how things turned out in the story, as I mentioned above, happened because of the character development. I thought that one character was turning down a dark path that would affect the other characters, but things didn't turn out as I expected. There was a line said in the book many times that I think holds true to the characters, and that is "people can change". So many characters showed their true colors in this finale. 

Speaking of characters, I loved reading about female friendship and how important it is in this series. Pearson did a great job of cementing the importance of female friendship in the first book, and it only grew as the series went on. Lia's friends loved her like family. I think that female friendship gets passed over in a lot of books to make way for a great romance, so I was delighted at how powerful the concept is in The Remnant Chronicles. 

I am such a sap, but I love the ending relationships in this book. My heart was melting all over the place. Pauline, Gwyneth, Lia...sigh. I also adored how much Lia's parents and brothers loved her and believed in her. 

If I had any complaints about this book or this series as a whole, it would be the lack of romance. Don't get me wrong, because there IS romance in this series. I mean, come on, it's a romantic fantasy. But, in general, the romantic scenes were few and far between. There was a ton of romantic tension due to the story circumstances, but I felt like I needed something more. The romance in this series did not fully whet my appetite. (And I am not the biggest romance book fan in general, so that's saying something.) I like there to be romance, but I don't want it to overshadow the story itself. Sure, this was a romantic fantasy, but there were so many other things going on. 

This was clearly a dystopian-like story. There is the talk of ruins of structures that touched the sky, and the stories and songs that their religions are based on stem from what sounds like a nuclear strike and the aftermath that the survivors faced. I disliked that there was no big reveal at the end that explains if the Ancients were truly from our modern day society or not. Deep inside I NEEDED to know this, but it never came. I suppose not knowing does add to the magic this story holds over the reader, but I personally would have preferred knowing. 

I felt like the battle scene could have been more intense. It happens at the very end of the book, and it felt like it was over before it had begun. 

All in all, I couldn't have been more happy with the end of this series! I know that there has been a lot of controversy in regard to the ending. Many people loved it, and others not so much. I would have to recommend the book because so much can change in a book series. No matter your expectations, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. I admit, the first book of this series did not totally impress me, but the journey was worth it! 

If you have read this series, what were your final thoughts? Does the apparent dystopian theme fall in line with what you read as well? What is the next book series that you are excited for?