🎧 To The Bloody End by Rachel Aaron @Rachel_Aaron #NaomiRose-Mock ‏ #KindleUnlimited #LoveAudiobooks @SnyderBridge4

Victor thought he won when he became the Hero. He thought he won when he took over the DFZ. He thought he’d made himself untouchable.

He’s wrong.

Lola isn’t the sad little monster she used to be. She has a plan, she has allies, she has more magic than she ever dreamed possible. Killing one blood mage should be easy with a fairy kingdom at her fingertips, but Victor didn't make himself a god by playing fair, and his bag of tricks is far from empty. Taking him down will take everything Lola and her friends can bring, but if there’s one thing Lola’s always been, it’s determined. No matter the cost, no matter what it takes, she will see this through.

To the bloody end.

To the Bloody End is the last book of the DFZ Changeling series.  This is the second series by Aaron set in the Heartstriker  world.  The other was the DFZ.  I think to read this series it helps if you read at least the Heartstriker series to understand spirits and how this world works.  I think the concepts are brushed over a bit but to really understand then reading the parent series to this world is incredible helpful.  Especially since the spirit of the DFZ plays a pretty big role.

Victor has defeated Lola time and time again.  Through his planning and trickery he has made himself into the Hero and taken control of the city.  Lola at least managed to come out of the last book with most of her crew still intact and a lot more power after taking over a fairy burrow.  She is a changeling and this makes for some interesting side effects of being the head of her own burrow.  Lola still has one focus, destroy Victor, but that is proving really hard.  Even with all the extra power, he has still managed to thwart every attempt she has made in the three months that have passed since the end of the prior book.

If Lola is going to win, she will need to tie together the rest of the fairies left in this world to work together, along with the few left opposing Victor, to finally take him out and free the DFZ from his control.  Valente and Simon might have survived the previous book but both are still having lingering effects.  Valente is fading fast but there is still hope for him if he takes a pretty big leap of faith.  Simon still hears Victor in his head, to break the bond he will need to find a better way to fight.  Paladin’s usually would kill any blood mage, but Simon has found one that will help train him to push Victor out of his head and find a way to destroy the man who claims to be the Hero.

I found this book’s pacing and storyline to be a lot better than the previous book.  With A Golden Sword had some pacing issues and most of the characters were separated for the majority of the book.  Now with everyone together and working towards our finale, the story flows so much better.  I loved all the concepts with gossamer and how Lola made it and could control it.  There are also some great cameos from a few characters of the Heartstriker series that I always love seeing again or even hearing about through the story.

Overall a really satisfying conclusion to the series.  I would have liked a little more in the epilogue and some closure with Simon and his future, along with a few other characters.  However, I believe we get a really solid ending to this particular storyline.

Narration:

Naomi Rose-Mock reprises her role again in the conclusion to the series.  She has been consistently good throughout the series and does well with the voices.  Nothing is really standout though.  That could be related to the material read or the narration, I can’t say but overall a solid performance that I do not have anything negative to relate.  I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip: HERE

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Robin

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Reading is my #1 addiction…I’d go to a support group for it but who are we kidding -  I have no intentions of quitting anytime soon. By day, I’m a chemist and can be found sciencing and listening to books. On nights and weekends, I’m a wannabe Spartan and am often training and listening to books. I straight up LOVE almost everything by Brandon Sanderson and Ilona Andrews; they are my flagship authors and I might be slightly impartial where they are concerned. My other guilty pleasures are unusual fairytale retellings and uber alpha males.


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