Ever the Brave

Der König wurde gerettet, das Königreich hat seinen rechtmäßigen Herrscher zurück und Britta und Cohen sind zuhause. Da sollte doch eigentlich alles perfekt sein, oder nicht?Nope, denn es gibt da so ein kleines Problem, diese Verbindung zu Aodren, welche Britta sehr verunsichert. Als Cohen dann auch noch fortgeschickt wird und es an Britta liegt, Aodren zu retten, gerät alles aus dem Ruder – möchte man meinen. Aber die Autorin hält den Spannungsbogen aufrecht, ohne zu übertreiben und bringt die Geschichte in einem guten Tempo vorwärts. Auch die Dialoge waren amüsant, liebevoll und passend.Manchmal hab ich mich über den ein oder anderen Charakter aufgeregt, und auch Cohen musste ich manchmal anstupsen, aber allgemein hat es super viel Spaß gemacht.Ich persönlich mag das ja nie, wenn sie der finale Love Interest und die Hauptprota ewig nicht sehen. In diesem Buch war es für mich genau passend und spannend und ich wollte unbedingt lesen, wie es mit Britta, Aodren und Cohen weitergeht. Das Finale war mega spannend, jedoch hab ich wirklich Lust auf mehr, und schnapp mir mal gleich Buch 3, welches zwar die Hauptprotas ändert, aber die Geschichte ist einfach noch nicht zu Ende erzählt.

I have been so anxious waiting for this book to finally get in my hands! That just shows how much I loved the first one. I have loved being in this world that Erin created with all its flaws, strength, beauty and romance. The continuing story was a perfect balance of tension, magic, choices, and flat out entertaining. Every character had so much depth to them that made them real to me, real enough that I want to meet them or as a consolation, see them on the big screen!!!!! Now that would be a dream come true!As a conservative mother, I would feel just fine with my teen reading the book. Erin wrote about love, longing, and passion in a safe way that teens and adults can relate to. Overall I adored this final book and the entire series. Is it too much to ask for more Erin? This world you’ve created is just beautiful!

great from the beginning

What an amazing finish to a great series!!! It was so good with a lot of action, angst, and twists that I did not see coming. I love Britta and Cohen even more and I am so happy with where their relationship ended up. I absolutely adore King Aordren! I hope he gets his happily ever after. I also enjoyed Lirra, Gillian, Leif, and Finn. I am so glad I have this series a try and how it turned out. I can't wait to read Once A King.

The following review is reposted from my Goodreads:NOTE: THIS BOOK IS MARKETED AS A TRILOGY, BUT BRITTA'S STORY IS ACTUALLY A DUOLOGY. The third book features two other characters (from this series but who are not Britta) as protagonists This book concludes Britta's journey.Hmmm...I adored the first book in this series (so much so that I went and bought the rest of the series halfway through reading!), but I can't say the same for this one.I like love triangles, and I like a tough girl who stands her own and a bit of romance, but this book just turned on an axle to achieve those things. Where Ever the Hunted was focused on a singular plot, a side romance, and a girl who knew what she wanted other than a man—this book veers left and right.The end of the last book hinted at a possible love triangle, and this book works to continue that subplot—except, it's not a subplot. The whole book, every chapter, is focused on which man Britta should choose. Because of the constant POV switches, we get a weird almost-pining from each character, but no one is willing to state their feelings or make a decision. Except Britta, that is. Avoiding any spoilers, Britta has her heart dead set on one of the men, but it felt like the author was trying to pull the other man to Britta more. We are told again and again and again that Britta prefers one of the men, but the other still intervenes and gets screen time by the author. The author tries to paint one of the men as a bad guy with all these faults, then doesn't address them. It's as if she includes his problems as things that can't be worked on or fixed just so we might consider the other character. Even when the POV is on one of the men (and this goes for BOTH of the male POVs), their thoughts are on their own terrible flaws and controversially how their travel companion's hands are not as dainty as Britta's, or how her body might look more sturdy than Britta's but they prefer Britta's, or how Britta would never struggle with what they are struggling with. Weird side tangents in their thoughts that all focused around Britta being the ideal. Even when there's a war waging. I encourage the concept of a confident, independent woman, but I'm also happy to root for a confident man too!I also had a hard time following the political aspect of the book. That story line swept right over my head. It would be several pages of military political discussion, then a battle that was only discussed in a single sentence. There were so many names to follow, and occasionally a character would just die off without the other characters mourning him much, and I'd think "Oh, crap. Was he important?" Or even worse, a main antagonist or protagonist would die and I'd wonder if I'd skipped a paragraph because it happened so fast.Other reviewers have mentioned the inconsistent pacing of this book, and I have to agree. I think a large part of why the story felt rushed and slow and hard to follow in places was because of the many POV switches in the middle of events. One singular event (for example, a fight in the woods) would take three or more chapters just because of the POV switches. The ending, too, was crazy different from the rest of the book. In one and a half chapters, the main character is removed from the plot line as another POV tells us about how they wrapped up the rest of the conflict across the country—across the COUNTRY! A COUNTRY-WIDE conflict!—with a nice, neat bow on top. Not one scene to be had, but just exposition letting us know that we don't have to worry anymore about leftover strings.Also, as a side note, the dialogue seemed way more stunted in this book than the first? Maybe it's because the characters are struggling with how they feel too, but some of the phrases just did not sound like something an actual person would say aloud (maybe something they would write in a diary, perhaps).I know this sounds like I'm crapping on the book, and it did have a lot of issues in my mind, but it was still a fun story overall. I am not continuing the series, but only because I didn't care for the main characters the third book is composed of.BASIC FACTS:Genre: romance, fantasy, YAThemes: healing/elemental magic, romance, love triangles, political discussion, flashbacks, insecurities, hypothermiaPOV: 3 different, first-person POVS. Two from male protagonists and one from female protagonist.Protagonist Ages: female protagonist is 17–18 years old (but reads maybe slightly older); male protagonists are early 20s; important side characters aged late 20s to 40ishPacing: All over the place. The action scenes are pretty frequent, and the setting changes every couple chapters, but the events happen fast, sometimes off-screen, and plot moves slow.Warnings: Loss, DEATH (mass death), realistic medieval dungeon, nudity while sharing body heat, hypothermia, discussion of sex before marriage (but nothing more explicit)Recommended Age: I think anyone over the age of 10 or 11 (consider "Warnings" above if younger) would enjoy this! I believe this is more mild than the last book.