Review: The end has come - and it's grand!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 16, 2013
NOTE: I received the eARC from the author. Thanks Charlotte!This review was originally posted at YA Story TellerFinding Valor is the last installment in the Channie Series. As such, I was scared to start reading it, because I had no idea how good it would turn out to be. It's a real fear you know, seeing how many trilogies have horrible endings. Luckily though, it scored a great rating.And there's a good reason why. Charlotte Abel has done an exceptionally good job finishing this series. Her writing style has improved over the years and it's quite obvious. Sure, at times it felt that the book was just too long, but I realize now that if it had been written any other way, we as readers would have missed out a lot. The events just had to unfold the way they did, or the effect of this final novel would not have been the same.Finding Valor started out slow, with Joshua's lack of memory of all things Channie related. I loved how it was explained that he would remember certain things for an instant and then forget them right away because of the curse Channie's mom placed on him. This way it seemed that the pain of the emptiness inside his heart felt all the more excruciating. I don't know how I would've felt in his place - not remembering a single thing for the past (was it a) year. Not remembering being married and completely in love...It wasn't any easier on Channie either. She willingly gave Josh up, just so she could protect him from her insane mother. How sad is that?The intensity of the action was held by the two major events: a) Channie's sacrifice and b) the fight with the mage queen Dominance. Each chapter built up the tension even more, until I could barely wait to see what was going to happen in the end. I felt like skipping to those last pages just so I could know. You know? There were surprises at every turn and I'm happy to say I couldn't really predict them. I love that kind of book.But what I loved the most was that all the characters grew throughout the novel. Joshua started out as a naive, disbelieving guy and became a recognized, responsible leader. Channie started out as a girl who'd lost all hope, but ended up with more than she could've ever wished for. Even Hunter had grown into a man who understood the comings and goings of the world around him.Lots of mistakes were made, even more love came to be and I could only say that I was entirely satisfied by this final installment of the Channie Series.