Wishes and Pages (EN): Would you become who you need to be?

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

Genre: young adult, fantasy

Published: August 2nd 2016 by Henry Holt and Co.

Goodreads summary: Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda and the path before them is winding and dangerous - what will happen now? This third and final book in The Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed.

Bestselling author Mary E. Pearson's combination of intrigue, suspense, romance and action make this a riveting page turner for teens.

REVIEW

The Remnant Chronicles is a trilogy I came to like the more and more books were released and I was so pleased with this finale. Indeed, I was truly invested in the whole thing, because I reread the first two books in the series during the summer and enjoyed them even more the second time around, which had made me so excited to read The Beauty of Darkness.

I’m deeply in love with Mary E. Pearson’s writing, which was so poetic and vibrant. Since the first book I’ve been admiring her for The Song of Venda and The Last Testaments of Gaudrel, because it felt like realistic lore, as mysterious and poetic as you would imagine. Pearson transported me to her world easily, which is an amazing gift, because it means I can imagine myself traveling besides the main characters without forcing my mind too much around it.

As this book was 688-pages long, many events occurred and I felt like years had passed for the characters when I closed the book, when it had happened over the course of a few months (well, even if there was a bigger gap between the penultimate and last chapter). I can’t really say much about the plot without spoiling anything, because it’s the third and last book, but I will say that it was intense and I always had to keep reading, because I needed to know what was going to happen to the characters. The author covered a lot of ground, both in her world, but also in the type of plots she used. Some twists were totally unexpected for me and I was shocked at some point, because I hadn’t thought of some possibilities. Moreover, she wrote wonderful action-packed scenes and grasped the atmosphere of a war.

During this trilogy, Lia became such a strong and independent woman and I’m so proud of her, she will definitely remain one of my favourite female characters of all times. Time and time again, she proved that she needed no man to succeed, when it was a man’s world (no, I’m definitely not singing along ;)). She learned to trust her gift and embrace who she needed to become, even if she was ruthless at times, because she was doing what needed to be done. Pauline also went through a lot of character development in this last book, because she realized the truth on some aspects of her life (I don’t want to spoil anyone but it’s hard) and had to become tougher than the sweet girl she used to be (also, can we talk about someone’s name? I loved it <3). In fact, this book was very great at building women’s power, when this world was dominated by men.

However, I feel like it fell a bit short for the two male main characters’ development. While I recognize we saw some of it, I was disappointed a little by Kaden’s chapters, because they were way too short and didn’t help me to understand him. Yes, we learned more about this past, but it was hard to understand his relationships with the other characters, especially Lia and Pauline. Rafe was easier to understand, because his reactions were realistic considering the situation he was in, but I still needed more scenes that involved him.

For the romance, I have to say I figured out early on the path the author had chosen for her characters and was excited to read about it. I was pleased with the outcome, even if I had predicted it, because Pearson wrote it pretty well and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Some scenes were steamy in my opinion and it worked so well, because I was rooting for the characters and wanted more one-to-one time between them. However, I would have liked to see two particular characters falling in love together, because we only saw the result. Nevertheless, the romance was great, even if there was much drama in it.

The ending was pretty much a happily ever after, but for once, I didn’t mind. I loved the places Mary E. Pearson left her characters, because even if she didn’t resolve everything, she left the characters with hope for their future. Moreover, I almost cried with relief and joy when I read the last scene, my little fangirl heart melted, it was so beautiful.

Overall, I’m totally satisfied with this finale and while, like always, I feel bittersweet because it is another series coming to a close, I know I won’t regret it because it ended the right way for the characters (but also like I wanted, haha). The Beauty of Darkness was about Lia finally becoming who she needed to be and I’m glad I saw this transformation during the trilogy. The plot was filled with tension, which made me keep reading, to the point where I read this beast in three days (well, I finished it past midnight so technically it was the fourth day). I read swoon-worthy moments that made me so happy, especially at the end of the novel. I cannot wait to see what Mary E. Pearson will write next, because this trilogy is one of my favourites!