When you love a series, seeing it end is always a little sad. Bittersweet. I’ve been looking forward to the next Shadow book between each and while I’ll miss these characters and their adventures, J.E. Leak gave them the ending they deserved.

In the Shadow of Victory picks up in January 1944, in Paris. From the very first book, one of my favourite things about this series has been the atmosphere. Leak nails the noir mood, fraught with danger, betrayal, and forbidden love. Her characters are multidimensional, flawed in ways that sometimes feel they won’t be able to come back from, and yet there’s always hope because there’s always love. In times of war, when you can only trust a handful of people, if even that, love may be the only thing you can hold on to.

To be completely honest, my main issue with this series is that the third book, In the Shadow of Truth was, in my eyes, unnecessarily convoluted, which in turns makes this book longer, as all the loose ends need to be tied. Many reviewers, however, seem to have enjoyed the flurry of twists, so I recommend you decide for yourself. I could also have done with a little less of Kat with Bouchaule in this fourth and final book, and while I like Smitty a lot, I didn’t expect him to take centre stage, even for a few scenes. Kat and Jenny are who I read this series for and when the focus isn’t on them, my attention comes and goes. And yet it all made sense in the end and that’s probably what I’ll remember.

Beyond the atmosphere, my favourite thing about this book is the evolution of the relationship between the two main characters, and the character growth both of them go through. Jenny is a lot more mature and even stronger than she’s appeared in previous books. Faced with incredibly hard choices, she doesn’t falter. Kathryn, on the other hand, is at her most vulnerable, and the change in dynamics is fascinating. If you like redemption arcs, Kathryn’s journey alone would make the four books worth reading. Leak sends her to hell and back without ever making the reader wonder why Jenny keeps loving her. Because that’s who Kathryn is and that’s who Jenny is. I’ll miss both of them, I’ll probably miss Smitty too, and I’m grateful to J.E. Leak not only for this series but for the way she ends it. And there’s always the audiobook to look forward to…

Read all my reviews of the Shadow series books.

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