Review: Wonderful
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 29, 2013
***Being as this is the final book in a trilogy, this review may contain spoilers for the two previous books.***"With great cliffhangers come great responsibility."Ok.  So, I may have borrowed and modified that quote just a teensy bit, but the tenet still stands: You bring me to the brink of emotional despair over a fictional character and their relationships, then by golly-gee-oh-my, you better deliver a fantastic resolution (that hopefully mends my oh-so-fragile heart in the process, if only a tiny bit).  And in this particular instance, Rachel Morgan delivers.Oh the sweet, sweet angst.  I love the world and I like the story, but for me, the main reason I love Creepy Hollow is because of Violet and Ryn (sitting in a tree. Or on a magic carpet.  Or hiding in a... well, nevermind all that).  Vi & Ryn, both together and apart, drive my love affair with this series.  Theirs is a relationship deeply colored by their pasts and by their mistakes.  The push and pull between them -- the chemistry -- the tempestuousness that morphs into something more... well.  You can discover that for yourself.  The banter... oh, the banter.  And the fact that they constantly challenge each other to individual growth and realizations, all of these things combined, makes them such  unputdownable characters.  They've come some far and fought so much to get to where they were in The Faerie Prince -- from grief and hurt and blame to healing and forgiveness and love.  And in one brief moment of overwhelming despair, Violet makes a series of choices (re: cliffhanger *throws self about in fangirlish anguish*) that threatens it all.  And Ryn's responses to and handling of this choice in The Faerie War, and Vi's responses and subsequent choices too... *so many feels* are the most compelling part of this novel.  I love them both to Kaleidos and back again.While the romance is absolutely superb, and the story exciting -- also proving "unputdownable," which to my amazement and utter happiness is indeed a real word --  I will say that I wish that this book had been broken into two.  There was just so much trying to fit into The Faerie War -- new characters, quests,  politics, relationships, action, a WAR -- with the result that some of these things felt too glossed over.  I would've like few more face-to-face run-ins with Draven, a broader view of what was happening across the Faerie world, a little more politicking and intrigue, a chance to get to know all the new characters a little better, a bit more relationship development with secondary characters, a bit more of a lengthy descent into "Oh crap, oh crap, we're all gonna die." territory before the resolution.  But even so, The Faerie War is still wonderfully exciting and action-packed, full of dragons, adventure, daring escapes, magical weapons, enigmatic prophecies, floating islands and flying carpets and much, much more as the Faerie world works to defeat Draven and reclaim their home and loved ones.And can I just say, goodbyes suck?  Well, they do.  The world of Creepy Hollow with its whimsy, mystery, magic and danger is one I'm a bit loathe to leave.  Saying goodbye to great characters that feel like dear, familiar friends, harder still.  But I guess, in the end, that's the hallmark of great storytelling, eh?Yes, indeed it is.Overall, a wonderful and satisfying ( and inevitably bittersweet) ending to an amazing trilogy.