3.5⭐️ – Everyone makes mistakes but some mistakes have more serious consequences than others. Even if Princess Aurelia’s parents thought they were doing the right thing both for their daughter and their kingdom, their misguided decisions add even more hurdles to Jastyn’s quest to save her sister.
This is the third and final book in The Odium Trilogy. Don’t attempt to read it as a standalone, start with Daughter of No One. From the beginning, Jastyn, the Odium (child of an unwed mother) in the title, has been on a quest to find the cure to her younger sister’s illness and on her journey, fell in love with Aurelia, the princess. Now that she’s procured the missing ingredient, she needs to rush back, save her family and – she didn’t see that one coming – protect the royal family while fighting evil forces from taking over the world.
As with the second book, Broken Reign, it took me a while to get back into the story, but I’m not sure I can blame it entirely on my weak memory. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and not for the first time, I wish books in series included some sort of recap of previous episodes, or at least a list of characters and places with a little context.
There aren’t as many different species in this part as there was in the previous two, but because it’s the last book in the trilogy, there are a few storylines running at the same time. The author makes them work together as well as alongside one another without losing the reader while still tying every loose end.
The world-building in the whole trilogy is fantastic, and even if it feels familiar now that we’ve been navigating it with the characters for a while, it’s still surprising and unsettling.
Jastyn and Aurelia spend a significant part of this instalment unsure of what the other is feeling and whether they’re forgiven or not, and when they’re finally reunited, there’s so much happening that they don’t have much one on one time. Also, it’s YA/NA so nothing too explicit.
All in all, The Princess and the Odium is a fitting end to a well-written YA fantasy series.
Jude in the Stars 