[Review: Chaos by Sarah Fine]

"Chaos"
Author: Sarah Fine
Series: Guards of the Shadowlands #3
Pages: 399
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy
Date Published: October 7th, 2014
Publisher: Skyscape
Format Read: Purchased eBook

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Summary:

With Juri in control and everything in absolute chaos, Lela plunges into the depths of hell to free Malachi from creatures that have waited decades to exact their revenge. But the Judge has her own way of doing things, and Lela must work with Ana, the new Captain, who has a very personal mission of her own. Together, they infiltrate the most horrifying realm either has yet encountered in the Shadowlands—the bitter landscape ruled by the Mazikin.

The stakes could not be higher, and Lela must accept the help—and love—of people she barely knows or trusts. As alliances and loyalties shift and she realizes the soul she came to save isn’t the only one in need of rescue, can Lela summon the strength to see the fight through to the very end? 

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Chaos,

Why? Why are you over? I still don't think I'm ready for you to be the end of one of my favorite series, but that's my own fault. I honestly can't find any problems with you though, so that's good. You delivered a action packed, tear inducing, kickass ending to one of the most creative groups of books I've ever read. You gave me everything that I wanted and I couldn't be happier! Well, I guess I could be happier, but that's only if another book magically appeared in front of me.

-The White Unicorn

Parting with this series has been tough for me. As you can see I didn't jump on reading Chaos right away and part of that came from not wanting The Guards of the Shadowlands to be over. Now that I've read it, I could be happier with the outcome, and though I was never worried, I feel like Fine deserves a life time supply of chocolate (or her preferred sweet of choice), because she's awesome!

Chaos is the best of every world. We get the action and raw emotion of Sanctum, while also getting the complexities of Fractured mixed in. The book is high octave action and I have to admit that I had to put the book down a few times. It was so intense that I would find myself needing to take breaks just so I could breathe. Fine introduces us to a new part of the afterlife that is pretty horrid, but also full of her signature style of hope.

The Mazikin world that Fine has created for Chaos is the kind of world building that I love. It's dark, no one is safe and you're not sure what the outcome will be. It keeps the plot tension at a high and gives our characters a landscape where they are able to grow even more than we've already seen them do in the other books. It was also great to delve into The Mazikin history and see just how tricky they are, as well as seeing that evil and goodness can live anywhere.

No one get's left behind in this conclusion and it was nice to be reunited with characters that we haven't seen for awhile and meet some that we've heard about. It was interesting to see Ana in charge this time around. Her chemistry with Lela was an interesting one. In the end they wanted the same thing, but there was a bit of head butting, due to the fact that Lela likes to do things her own way. 

It was terrifying to see Fine put Malachi through, which put everyone else through hell as well. He got the brunt of the horror, but it blend into everyone else's lives too. Of course, you're rooting for both Malachi and Lela the whole time. Their love story comes to a beautiful conclusion that isn't overpowering to the plot and it makes me like them even more. 

In the end (because that's what this is) I couldn't have been happier. I'm glad that this is the book that I got to use to say "bye" to some of my favorite characters and world building. I'm also that glad that Fine never lost her touch to make you feel hope as a reader, even in the most dire of circumstances.

I can't recommend this series enough. Please read it if you haven't.  

Rating:

5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this NOW!