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Oh Mr Weeks. You big meanie leaving so many threads yet untied... Guess we have to come back for more, then.

As is always the case with Mr Weeks (well, this Lightbringer series, anyway), the last 1/4-1/3 is virtually un-put-downable. I mean, I had to, to look after my family and go to the day job and do some of my own writing, but it was a struggle. [b:The Black Prism|7165300|The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)|Brent Weeks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327921884s/7165300.jpg|7534979] was so un-put-downable that even after I finished reading it I carried it around with me for weeks, going back over a few favourite parts, admiring the cover (I got the first one). I am a big fan of this series and can't wait to have the whole thing read... although, the wondering what will happen is rather divine, too.

OK. A little objectivity. Is it perfect? No. Technically, I prefer a closer POV. Weeks chooses a slightly pulled-back one. More often than not we're pretty much in one character's head in a scene, with occasional "head-hopping." That's fine. It's a stylistic choice.I just wonder how much more I, personally, would gush over these books if they were that little bit more in-your-face. (But, then, that could be a bad thing, because I think I already have to say this is my favourite contemporary series),
Also, it's a huge book, so I totally get it, but sadly, the proofreading team did let the ball drop a few times. I mention it because people jump down author-publishers' throat if they slip, so I don't see why we should expect less from a team that shares the author's income in a traditional setting. Mostly it was just a few missing a's or the's, easily missed.

As for the storytelling, I'd have to say there are moments of absolute brilliance. The rest of the time is solid.

Otherwise, though... I'm hopping around trying to figure out who my favourite characters are and how I really feel about what's happening to them. In the first book, I adored "Gavin". He was confident and cocky, but deservedly so. Yes, what he was doing to his brother was pretty hideous, but I took it on face value as deserved. Now "Gavin"/Dazen is in a rough spot himself. He's had the roughest ride of anyone, I think. I really feel for him. Part of me wants to think that perhaps he wasn't as awesome as he at first appeared. Maybe he is a bit of a bad guy. But I really don't think so. Yes, he's done some hideous things, but his conscience, to me, seems clear. His motivations feel as though they come from a good place.
I've enjoyed Karris' journey this time around.
I love how Kip still sees himself as a fatty, even though, clearly, he mustn't be anymore -- he spent months travelling and starving and then months and months training to be a Blackguard... How can he still be fat? But in his head, he doesn't see the change. He's become quite adorable (ha!).
Teia... Oh, Teia... The girl tries so hard. She deserves a break, she really does. Come on Book 4. Deliver a little something something for her, eh?
Liv... I'm still not sure about where Liv is going to go, nor how I'll feel about it. She's a bit of a swing vote. Yes, she has good intentions, but which side she believes is good is still up in the air.
And even Andross... I'm so sure he's evil, but then he does things that seem to help Kip? But, just how helpful was it?Gah! I'm totally confused.
And then yet more twists from some of the more "secondary" characters at the end... Oh, you and your twists, Mr Weeks. Sheesh.

Alright. No classy sign-off for me. Reckon I've said my piece.

Really enjoyed the series.

The characters were pretty fab. I still didn't "click" with Eliza, but Zuzana and Liraz and Mik and the like (can't forget Ziri... I did like Ziri), absolutely. They were all very cool.

A few things bothered me: all the foreshadowing, rather than just showing; all the "this is what happened, and here's a repeat of the dialogue from an earlier scene"; the "this is what was going on, oh, but the characters didn't know this, by the way"... Yeah. Anyway, that's just according to my personal preferences.

As a busy working mother, I'm struggling to really pull how I felt about the book apart.. but, I'm trying.

The first book in the series was great and really got me feeling things and interested in the characters' fates. By the end of the 3rd book, I cared less... I still wanted to know, but, I don't know... I guess it felt like things were drawn out enough to get a little annoying. And, while the first book had me seeing the scenes in my head, the 2nd and 3rd book lost that magic a bit. Characters thought and felt things, but I struggled to see their behaviours... I like to have a movie play out in my head. But so be it.

The story itself was intriguing and well thought out. There was a depth to it that I appreciate, and there were certainly many themes being investigated: the need for wars to bring peace, and how they could be ended and a real peace achieved.

Yeah... On the whole, this is one I would recommend to just about anyone. Well worth the read. How much you LURVE it will be up to you...

It's a funny thing...

I was easily drawn into this story. The writing was easy to follow and to conjure into real movie-like images in my head. I love that. That's my favourite kind of reading. I loved the beginning and the promise of the story to come.

Later... less so. All the flash back stuff at the end... I get it. It let the book be filled with two romances in one, and it was great and all... but, it was a destined-to-be-loves/star-crossed-lovers thing that started to turn me off a little bit. I like a natural romance. It just gives me more hope as a real-life person that that kind of love exists in this realm and I can recreate it within my own relationship. Whereas, when the love is pre-destined for any reason... well, I guess I just don't care so much anymore.

However, I felt their longing and aching and some of the desire. I heard the screams...

And then there were some bits that I would have liked to linger on a little more, just to really experience it with the characters... but, then it would have been a really long book! I see the next two are a bit chunkier, so I hold out hope.

Much imaginative world-building. Although, I'm still troubled by these twin-moon worlds that can have moons at different phases... like the sun is shining on each from a different angle... And I'm just not sure that's how it works... (someone help me out, here). Otherwise, I enjoyed the exploration into the Angels and the Chimaera. And I liked Brimstone.

I won the trilogy in a contest, and I'm looking forward to spending more time in these books.

I've read various other reviews on this one - people who loved it, people who didn't.

I liked the idea of this book, which is why I decided to give it a go. It's a good tale that gives a ton of warning signs for girls to look out for from guys they might be totally infatuated with. It lets them know it's not actually OK for him to treat you like this, and you can expect and do deserve better.

That being said, I did find Jake a little too good to be true... but I don't doubt there are men that empathetic out there, so I'm gonna roll with it.

The one thought I kept having through the book was that I kind of wish I could have gone through the journey WITH Grace. But the book opened at a point that SHOULD have signified the end of her relationship with Noah and then jumped about here there and every where in the timeline of their relationship. It meant that I saw all the early interactions between then through jade-tinted specs. Yeah, I was pretty well over it already. What I would have loved would be to meet Noah as an innocent reader, be swept off my feet, have a few doubts planted by his odd behaviour and then slowly come to loathe him, as I think Grace would have experienced it... then it would have been the rollercoaster ride I think it was aiming for.

Regarding the jumping around in time thing... it left me confused a couple of times. I'm not sure if it was me or the book (I usually assume me). Can someone correct me... Grace breaks up with Joel the morning after "the Jack Johnson serenade", but the bit where Noah plays the Jack Johnson song to her starts with "It had been two weeks since I broke up with Joel." I may have missed something in all this, though?

All the references to the 90s Seattle bands had me thinking this was a book written by a 30-something woman recalling a relationship she had back in the 90s. A little research could have brought it into the here and now, but I'm guessing that wasn't the point. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pearl Jam and Candlebox and the rest... but I am a 30-something woman. It wouldn't have been a problem, except that it made the jadedness of the MC feel a little like it wasn't just the MC's jadedness, if you get my meaning.

On the whole, I think this is a great book for teenage girls to read (that being said, I don't know any teenagers closely, so don't take my word as the be all and end all). It clearly states from the outset it's for girls suffering from emotional abuse - or it could be to help those who haven't experienced it avoid it... For that, I commend the effort.

I love going on an emotional journey when I read. I felt this was missing here, just because it was a "look back", which immediately took me out of the moment. But, what I look for may not be the healthy choice for the target audience here, so I won't bag it.

I did "Like it", hence the 3 stars. Overall, it is well-written and manages to be both educational and entertaining.