Nicole's Reviews > Beyond the Shadows

Check out my full review with and without spoilers here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SBPI...

4/5 stars for me. I really enjoyed this series as a whole but I do have some complaints regarding the writing and some of the story. Overall, this book wrapped up the series, the storylines and brought all the characters together, it was a satisfying conclusion to where the story could end or continue and I am glad to know that Brent Weeks has now decided to continue the story with Nemesis.
This book picks up right where the second book left off; the Godking is killed and Kylar and Vi are now bonded in a way that neither of them intended or wanted. While the goal of killing the Godking is completed, there are still threats to Cenaria. One of these threats that needs resolving is Terah Graesin who has made sure she has remained Queen of Cenaria, despite Logan’s popularity and rightful claim to rule. Kylar knows that Logan needs to be king and should be king, making it his goal to kill Terah and force Logan to then be proclaimed king.

There are multiple storylines being run throughout this book. Dorian is back in Khalidor and has found himself unintentionally being the next Godking, with Jenine as his new wife. Solon has also returned home and has earned the title of Stormrider. Feir has the task of making a duplicate of the sword Curoch for Lantano. Vi is learning at the Chantry and is the awkward third wheel between Kylar and Elene. Durzo is being Durzo. And Logan is trying to keep Cenaria whole while also trying to bring back Jenine.

The main problem in this book is Neph Dada trying to raise an army of Krul, Titans and the Goddess Khali to essentially destroy everything. There are also the Strangers who manifest by inhabiting the corpses of human sacrifices and they have an intense, murderous hatred for the living; essentially they just exist to kill and feast on suffering.

After Logan is king, Kylar and Durzo meet up (this was fun and made me love Durzo’s character so much). They are both headed to the Chantry, Kylar for Elene and Durzo for Uly. Uly is not in this book very much but you do get plenty of whiny and weird scenes with Kylar, Elene and Vi. A weird problem I noticed, with all of these books, is that the characters are always either crying, sobbing or weeping. And this happens nonstop with Vi, Kylar and Elene…

To prevent from going into major spoilers, I will say this book wraps up everything really well. All the storylines appear to be addressed, while leaving a potential for more in this world. The ending was a little chaotic and felt a little too perfect. Everyone was together and solving the problem, which in some sense was satisfying but in another is was frustrating because it felt too perfect. This series is mostly dark and to have such a perfect/around a circle holding hands moment, it felt out of place. It is not necessarily how I would have chosen to end the series but I think it still worked and it was nice to see all the characters being involved in some way.

Overall I would rate this series a 8/10. Its not the most well written series; as in I do have a lot of complaints about some of the details and some of the choices that were made, but I love the overall story and the characters. I also just love the Night Angel character so much it literally saves the series for me. I love how the Night Angel is the one who judges and dispenses justice, I love the look and ability of the Night Angel; along with the Sword and the Kakari. I would recommend this series and I hope you will have fun reading this if you do decide to pick it up.