This is the third and final book in the series following the adventures of Professor Emily Wilde, and it is the perfect coda to a delightful fantasy. Poetically, the author brings some elements full circle with locations and previous characters; there are not a lot of new characters or places, which feels appropriate for a book which is focused on resolving Wendell’s quest to return home and cementing Emily and Wendell’s relationship. Looking back to the first book, Emily’s growth and self-awareness have increased tremendously. It is endearing and adorable that she is such an academic and that intellect and research are her weapons of choice.

The romance between Wendell and Emily remains sweet, and his adoration for her is delightful. The book could have used a little more Wendell because he is an effective foil to Emily and that infuses a lot of humor. Other than that wish, this capstone was a satisfying read from beginning to end. It will be interesting to see what the author does next.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 14 religious exclamations; 2 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity.

Violence/Gore: Several references to prior assassinations of family members by family members, prior battles, prior poisonings, and other acts of violence; character has a sword with blood on it; two characters duel with swords, injuries, mention of blood; animal slashes and injures a character upon a couple of different occasions; statement that mortals were rounded up and hunted for sport; report of kidnapped child abandoned in the forest and killed for sport by faerie creatures; report of fighting and assassination attempts; brief swordfight in which a character is run through with a sword and then transforms; a character’s cloak leaves a trail of blood; a character is essentially a serial killer and says they kill for sport/pleasure; brief battle scene in which character is killed, character’s legs are stomped on and they are broken; character’s blood heals diseased land; historical reference to someone who took their life; reference to a fairy tale in which someone was bludgeoned with a crown, mention of blood, murders, death by bees; someone learns that a married family member had been killed dreadfully after running off with a fairy woman; characters come upon body of someone who had stabbed themself in the heart, description of dripping blood; character stabs self in act of self-sacrifice, results in death; several reference to fairy stories with violent elements.

Sex/Nudity: Male and female kiss passionately; engaged couple (male and female) embrace, hold hands, etc. and are affectionate with each other; reference/implied sex engaged couple (male and female), no details; implied sex married couple (male and female); reference to a man’s husband; reference to two women as a married couple; it is said that a married family member ran off with a fairy woman.

Mature Subject Matter:

Politics, assassination (attempts), death, self-inflicted death for political reasons, revenge.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Adult characters drink wine, rum, etc.