The Shadow Glass

So she is a good witch! Heartbreaking. Kind of reminds me of wicked

Wow! Tea in the past and Tea in the present slowly come together to be the same person. I had no clue how she became such a different person, but as it turned out she didn't change that much, which really made for an amazing story arc. There is still plenty about this world for me to understand, so I will be rereading this series sometime. The very end of this book was a little too much, but that is a very minor complaint over an entire trilogy!

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: The Shadow Glass

The Faceless seek the power found within shadowglass, and Tea is determined to reach it first. But shadowglass is a double-edged sword. While it will grant power, it will also cause corruption and demand sacrifice. Tea's power will begin to eat away at her sanity and her life. But to Tea, her life is just one more thing to give up in her quest to save those she loves. When she begins to unravel the long told lies of the Asha, she will do everything in her power to bring them to their knees. The world is about to change, but is it for better or for worse?

The magic system in this trilogy is brilliant. While it plays on elemental magic, it takes it to a whole new level. The use of heartsglass and special runic magic puts a creative twist on a favorite. Even after the reader thinks they know everything there is to the magic system, Rin Chupeco throws another twist. The same can be said for the world building, as the history readers have come to know is torn apart and rebuilt.

The Shadow Glass is a dark and thrilling conclusion to a phenomenal series. Rin Chupeco pulls you into the complex relationships she has built with all the characters, tugging on the reader's heartstrings every chance she can. I could not stop listening to this book. The depth of emotion the narrators Emily Woo and Will Damron added to the characters enhanced the experience. You felt everything Tea experienced and rode the wave of emotions each step of the way. I can't wait to read more of Rin Chupeco's books.

my heartsglass? broken, shattered, in PIECES.

In the final book in the trilogy I was more interested in the characters and the world than I was in the plot which is normal with me, but in the case with this book I just felt like the story dragged and I was rushing through it to finish the book. I am satisfied with the ending.

I had a hard time feeling as invested in this one as its predecessors. The jumping back-and-forth in time got confusing after awhile, and reading so many pages in italics made my eyes hurt.

2 stars plus one extra for the trans asha, I would die for Likh

It was a good ending and a good twist for the story. I liked all the characters and worldbuilding throughout the trilogy. As the end drew closer it did get harder to separate past and present as the same people were always featured, but it didn't take away too much from my suspension of disbelief.

I cannot properly express how much this book has made me feel. It was wonderful, heartwrenching and bewitching. Worth all my tears.

DNF at 13%. SO BORED.

I am struggling to write this review with tears in my eyes because I can't believe this amazing trilogy is already over and I can't experience it for the first time ever again. I'm so happy and sad to have been a part of this reading journey and I have not felt this emotional and satisfied with a series conclusion in a long while. I have a lot to say, so there will probably be a lot of spoilers for the previous two books but I will try to be as vague as possible for this one, so proceed with caution.

I already knew Rin's writing was spectacular but this book took it to a whole new level. While all of the kingdoms are mentioned throughout the books, I never expected to get the opportunity to travel to all of them but the author ensures we do and this makes for a great journey and an awesome job at more expansive world building - each kingdom unique in its own way. The writing in this book is so layered, each chapter uncovering some manipulation or treachery, the anticipation only building up more because of the way the two timelines are alternately written and surprising us every step of the way. There are liars and traitors in the guise of elders and friends and while I had some doubts, I never could guess their identities confidently. That's why the reveals had a very high impact. The plot also moves much faster in this book because there is a lot riding on Tea's shoulders, and there are even more amazing action sequences than the previous books. I continued to be impressed but the last few chapters really gutted me but it was also so perfectly tied up.


There were also enough hints throughout the books which pointed towards the ancient legends of these kingdoms as the knowledge that Tea is seeking and her quest leaves us with many questions to ponder - How far will people go to alter historical accounts to suit their greed? Do we ever really know the truth about our heroes and legends or is everything just embellishment and manipulation to ensure those in power are always able to control the populace? Are we always sure of the intentions of those we seek to follow and believe in? We get many answers but some of them are best left unanswered so that they make us think. There is also a lot of destruction that happens in this book but again we are left to think about what's the line between good and evil, how much of the havoc that Tea wreaks upon the kingdoms justified because she was compelled to do so - both to protect the truly innocent and also because she doesn't want her dearest ones to die. Whatever happens in this story, it all comes back to love - sibling, romantic, familial, platonic and everything in between - love compels every action, sometimes true and sometimes misguided but ultimately it's love that triumphs and I couldn't be more happier with the way everything wrapped up.

Call her a hero or antihero, Tea is one of the most compelling and complicated main characters I have read in quite a long time and I'm deeply in love with her. She is consumed by guilt and trauma, is lied to and betrayed and blamed by her closest ones but she still remains steadfast in her goals and I really admired her for it. And whatever she does, she really is full of love, ready to sacrifice all of herself for the sake of her dear ones. And seeing her with Kalen was a blessing to read. He is the epitome of loyalty and courage, always standing with her and protecting her and their love for each other made my heart weep with joy. It's definitely a romance for the ages and I just wanted more and more scenes with them together.

We see all the other characters together in this book and that was amazing to read. The relationships that Tea has with each of them precious in its own right and it was very interesting to see how Mykkie, Zoya, Khalad, Kance, Likh and everyone else handled her actions and justifications throughout the story. The Bard is another fascinating character who is unsure about what to make of Tea but is loyal to his task of being a storyteller and brave enough to follow her on her perilous journeys. His actual truth was probably the only one I guess while everything else was quite suspenseful and I had to wait to uncover it all. I also especially like Tea's friendship with Khalad and Likh, because they are always supportive of her even when she is wrongfully accused. Likh has been one of my favorite side characters since the beginning, her innate strength in pursuing what she truly wants in life despite lots of opposition being very commendable. She has always fought for her right to be true to herself, and we see her exploring more of her identity in this book and finally deciding on what pronouns she wants to use. I thought the author did a marvelous job of writing about Likh's transition through the trilogy and the tremendous amount of unconditional support that she gets from all her friends is really very heartwarming. The development of her romance with Khalad was also a joy to read and they had some very cute and hilarious scenes together. We don't get to see more of Zoya and Shadi's romance here but they still are going strong and it's always nice to see two happy young women in love. The other couple that rivals Tea and Kalen in their devotion to each other are Fox and Inessa, stubborn and hotheaded but deeply in love who fight for their right to be together despite all odds. The author really did a tremendous job making us care for every single character and their romances, giving each of them a meaningful arc and I tip my hat off to her.

What can I say that I haven't already said in my reviews of the previous books of this amazing trilogy. This is the kind of fantasy I love - characters I fall deeply in love with, expansive world building with its very own mythology that I can picture in my head, dark and deadly magic system and elaborate action sequences that left me gasping, beautifully written swoon worthy romances and ultimately, an ending that made me weep but also left me tremendously satisfied and glad to have read an amazing series. What more could I have asked for. If you are a lover of YA fantasy and haven't read this trilogy yet, what are you waiting for?

I wish I had the first two books in front of me to refer back to while reading this one. Specifically, the last few chapters of book two. Like the first two books, this one alternates chapters between the bard's point of view, and the story told to the bard by Tea. The difference is that they have separated paths at this point; so instead of the bard's chapters being very short, getting clarification on the story she's telling, he's now telling what's happening to him in present day, interspersed with Tea's letters that he's carrying, with the rest of her story. This gets VERY confusing. It's confusing even trying to explain the timeline! Okay, if we split up all three books between Tea's story and the Bard's viewpoint, chronologically they'd look like this:

The Bone Witch - Tea's Story
The Heartforger - Tea's Story
The Shadowglass - Tea's Story
The Bone Witch - Bard's Viewpoint
The Heartforger - Bard's Viewpoint
The Shadowglass - Bard's Viewpoint

See why I'd like to have the other two books to refer back to? This book is giving me part 3 and part 6. And while it was pretty easy to keep them straight in books one and two, because the Bard wasn't doing much besides having a conversation with Tea, in this book, he's off seeing OTHER important events that are happening while Tea is doing other things - and occasionally flitting in and out of his orbit too!

It is a good conclusion - the end, especially, had me crying into my book - but most of the book was very, VERY confusing. Like another conclusion I've read recently, if you moved straight through the trilogy with no waiting time, it might not be too bad.

What ESPECIALLY annoys me, is in the Bard's viewpoint in the first two books, she does something that is supposed to be impossible. So in her story in The Shadowglass, this thing is impossible. But in the Bard's viewpoint, she's ALREADY DONE IT. And there's no explanation of HOW. That's really what I'd like to refer back to the other two books about. Having that particular task be in the time gap between the two parts of the book was poorly done. Like, really? I read Book 2 almost a YEAR AGO. I don't remember how that part happened.

So that's particularly frustrating. I wish Book 3 had condensed to one timeline. I don't really see why it couldn't have. It would have been much less confusing!

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