Review: Bright Ruin

Bright Ruin
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

A shattered country

A world-changing magic

Magically gifted aristocrats rule Britain, and the people must serve them. But rebellion now strikes at the heart of the old order. Abi has escaped public execution, thanks to an unexpected ally. Her brother Luke is on the run with Silyen Jardine, the most mysterious aristocrat of all. And as political and magical conflicts escalate, each must decide how far they'll go for their beliefs. 

Dragons clash in the skies, as two powerful women duel for the soul of Britain. A symbol of government will blaze as it dies, and doors between worlds will open - and close forever. But the battle within human hearts will be the fiercest of all. 

I've been simultaneously anticipating this book, and dreading it because I love this trilogy, and I really didn't want it to end. I read this in one sitting, I tried to make it last as long as possible, but at the same time I couldn't put it down. Bright Ruin picks up directly from when Tarnished City left off, and we're straight in with the action. Nothing opens a book like a dragon fight eh? 

I knew straight away from the start, that this book was going to be precarious for my favourites and I was on edge from the start. I didn't even have a chance to breathe before the Renie thing happened! I'll be straight with you guys, this book is a wiiiiiiild ride, and there are so many twists and turns that even as I reached the final chapter...I still wasn't sure how it was going to end. 

I loved how we can see how far the characters have come since way back in Gilded Cage! Abi...she's changed so much, I personally feel! She's determined to fight in this book, the events from the last book have changed her. The events from this book continue to change her. She's stronger...and she's willing to do whatever it takes to bring all of this to an end. She kind of stares in to the abyss this book. 

Gavar....oh Gavar. The thing is...I know he can be kind and sort of sweet when he wants to be, and I have never stopped rooting for him to be a better person, to do the right thing and so on. I even lowkey started shipping he and Abi at one point. "Improbably decent thing to do" you nailed it Silyen, but Gavar did it anyway and he really did try to take care of Abi. I'm not sure whether he needs to grow a stronger spine or what, but I spent a lot of this book screaming at him. Again. I know why he was doing it, but I so badly wanted him to join the right team. To be the good guy I know he has the capacity to be. He just makes me scream so much, I thought I was going to end the trilogy disappointed with him, but I ended up cheering. He's been a flawed character...but also one you can cheer for. 

Silyen. Magical sociopath might be the best term I've heard to describe him, bless. I'm forever hoping for the best from my boy Silyen and getting 50/50 results, like he'll do something...kind of shady. Or you see some of his questionable motivations, and it's like really dude?! But he's kind of a genius, and while some of his methods are questionable, he is trying to work everything out and my boy does me proud this book. He's hilarious, he has feelings for Luke and I shipped it hard. I was living for their interactions, and Silyen...well...he redeemed himself for anything remotely shady he's done. I couldn't be happier with his progress throughout the trilogy!

Speaking of Luke, he isn't over the effects of what happened last book, but his cooperation and working with Silyen was brilliant and like I said...I was living for their interactions. Their relationship...you can really see it grow over the course of the book and it was brilliantly done. But man did it hit me in the feels at the end. Plus Luke, Silyen and Dog where like a very bizarre Three Musketeers as they're trying to solve the mystery of the Wonder King. Who, by the way, had me in mind of King Arthur with the whole "Fact or fiction" thing. I kinda think they need their own series! 

Bouda...I tried to see things from her point of view, and I do feel for her to an extent. But this book made it clear we would never be friends. I actually ended up fully hating her this book and I really do feel like she got off lightly. Especially as Jenner wasn't even remotely redeemed.

Bright Ruin has action from the start and this book had me so tense and on the edge of my seat as I was reading. Trying to work out who was going to betray who, who was going to die and just how the hell it was all going to be resolved! Vic also still had a lot of plot twists up her sleeve, right up until the end, literally no-one was safe and anything could happen. 

I'm kind of struggling to review this book, because it was a bloody amazing series finale and I have literally no issues with it. It was everything I'd been hoping for, and anticipating it and this trilogy has never let me down. I want to rage and shriek about this book and the feels it made me feel, but I don't want to spoil the utterly fantastic ending for you guys! Let's just say the colour red is an appropriate cover colour for this book! 

Bright Ruin has a steady pace, and the plot, tension and action builds up bringing in more and more threads, more to up the stakes, and more and more action. You can't put the book down because there's so much going on and so much tension, and you can't put it down without thinking about it excessively and aching to get back to it. I have to say...the ending was utterly perfect. It broke my heart initially, but the epilogue fixed it all, and it really choked me the hell up! 

I think all that's left to say is....thank you Vic for writing such a blindingly brilliant series. Each book has just gotten better and better, and brought more and more to the story. Your writing has been fantastic, your characters interesting and morally grey, and they've grown and changed with the story. The setting...never fails to amaze me with how clever it is. How the world has been slotted in to our own, changing our own history and tweaking it to match the book. This will remain one of my favourite trilogies of all time, and you ended this....so perfectly. So perfectly.