When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears, by Kersten Hamilton

In this final book of the Goblin Wars trilogy, we find Teagan and Finn fighting to save the their loved ones, and keep evil dark forces from escaping Mag Mell and entering the world.  Despite her tumultuous and conflicted heritage, Teagan has chosen to fight on the side of what is right and good, and seeks goodness in the creatures and people around her.  As Samhain draws near, it appears that all hell is going to break lose, literally.

I have had really mixed feelings about this trilogy.  They are wildly popular, incredibly creative, and totally original.  They pull heavily from Celtic mythology, but also incorporate aspects of romance, action, and the paranormal, so it is easy to see why they appeal to a wide variety of readers.  It is just, for me personally, the entire series is just a little too much.  Too many fantasy creatures from Celtic mythology with which I am wholly unfamiliar.  Too much darkness for the targeted age group.  Too many odd people and things to try to keep straight.  When I read, I like to picture people, places, and things in my mind.  I struggled with that during all three books in this series, because the concepts were just too foreign for me.

I think the writing and the story is very solid.  More than the first two books, the action and plot progress very rapidly in this story, which helped me quickly become engaged as a reader.  I found the characters to be very consistent with their earlier development, yet they do continue to develop throughout this story.  I was surprised by some of the turns the story takes in the end, some made me happy, and some made me sad.  Because I had already read the first two books in the series, there was no way I was no going to seek closure in the third book; I felt like that closure was received, and that it was well executed.  Off the entire series, this book was my favorite.  

I received a review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine program in exchange for my honest review.

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