I’m going to start right in the deep end, and announce, Darkdawn is the perfect series finale. PERFECT!!! The entire series is one of the best things I’ve ever read, but it’s rare that an ending makes me feel so at one with the universe.

“Fear is never a choice. But letting it rule you is.”

Jay Kristoff is a top contender for all time favorite writer. He is for sure in the top three. His writing sings to my soul. Rarely do I encounter entire books where I want to eat the words. Not devour them, but pluck them one at a time and savor them individually for as long as I can. Between Kristoff and Pierce Brown, I have no idea which one I love more. But, this isn’t a post on the merits of comparing the two authors. It’s supposed to be a review. Or a screaming fangirl session. Or, you know, whatever mix of the two manages to land on the page.

Mia is everything in this book!!! EVERYTHING!!! She frustrated me and broke my heart and made me stand up and cheer. I love her complexity, her humanity, but also her unrelenting badass nature. She shines as a character whether she’s showing what tiny piece of vulnerability she has, or is making murder so goddamn poetic. If I ever have to be an assassin, please let me be Mia.

“I hurt people all the time. And that’s the riddle. How do you kill a monster without becoming one yourself?”

Darkdawn takes everything I adored in the first two books, and launches them into new heights. As always, Kristoff plays with the narration techniques, and while I absolutely do not want to spoil how he does it, I will say it blew my mind. The level of creativity is masterful and the execution even more so. Every single detail in Darkdawn is so perfect it’s fucking painful!

Oddly, that brings us to the footnotes. Oh my glorious narrater!!! Not only do we find out who this mysterious person is, but once you know, it makes them all the better. Kristoff doesn’t stop there, though, no. He bludgeons us over the heads by interweaving this marvelous knowledge into the story in a way that is so fucking creative, and so fucking hilarious, that I would give this book five stars on this one facet alone.

The mythology of Itreya is expanded, giving us an understanding of the history, beliefs, and people in a scope that is jaw-dropping. We learn so much and yet, it all ties in so fluidly with Mia and her quest for vengeance, that it feels like perhaps we knew these details all along. It’s tragic and inevitable but filled with so much hope. It’s difficult to not see the human struggle in not just the story of the republic, but all the characters we know, love, and hate.

“Sometimes the past won’t just die. Sometimes you have to kill it.”

I would recommend this series for anyone who loves dark and delicious plot lines wrapped in gorgeous prose so lush it feels like poetry. The journey is worth it and The Nevernight Chronicles is officially one of my all-time favorite series ever. It’s masterful and perfect and one I will savor time and time again.

Also, “Murderous Bitch aesthetic” is not just my new favorite quote, but my official mood indefinitely.

Anyway, get the series. Read it. Love it. Or hate it. Who am I? But if you dislike it, do me a favor and make sure you put that shit on a public forum. Using criticism as his ad campaign is a level of savagery I am 1000% here for!!!