Hello, my name is Steph and I am UTTERLY OBSESSED with the ‘Isles of Storm and Sorrow’ series.

I was incredibly lucky to read this early on Netgalley and I am just now able to put my thoughts into SOME FORM OF sentences (which are worth reading).

Vulture: an incredible ending to a series that I utterly adore

We are all one misstep away from being the villain…
Marianne has passed the ultimate test required to be a Mage. She is finally powerful enough to reunite the Twelve Isles. But having exposed herself to the darker side of magic, Marianne is struggling. The magic within her is nearly impossible to control, and she becomes cruel and violent, mercilessly pursuing those who have harmed her in the past, ignoring the pleas of those closest to her to remember what’s really important: saving the islands. Everything she’s fought for has come down to this. Will Marianne be able to fulfil her promise to bring peace to the islands when she can’t even bring peace to herself?
Conquer the darkness. Control the magic. Save the Isles

Vulture takes off from where Venom leaves off. (I’m going to be really careful not to be too spoiler-y because some people might not have read Venom yet). Marianne has been THROUGH IT ALL and STUFF GOES DOWN at the end of Venom. You see the fall out from this at the start of Vulture and we start the story seeing how things have changed, not just for Marianne, but for the people around her, the people who love her most.

Without giving too much away, Marianne, Bronn and co have to overcome so much in order to save the world they love. They have to go through trials, tribulations, betrayals, dangers and some FALLING OUT in order to unite the two sides of the world.

This book is a WHOLE ROLLERCOASTER. You will GO THROUGH IT. If you’re anything like me, you’re attached to these characters and you WANT certain things to happen (I can neither confirm nor deny if these things happen). I think everyone knows that Bronn is my absolute babe. I was SO INCREDIBLY worried about my sweet boy in this book. I knew something major was coming (we all know that Bex is a MEANIE) and I had concerns for my boy. I can’t tell you whether I was right to have concerns for my boy or not, just read to find out.

This book, like the others in the series, sees you fully embraced in the most incredible world. These incredible islands that are individual and part of this wonderful world of pirates, assassins and incredible magic. Marianne has to learn to find, fight and control her magic in this third installment.

One of the things that is SO striking about the first half of this book is HOW ANGRY Marianne is. (I mean rightfully so, I get it). She is so angry. There is so much venom in her system. She has been wronged by SO MANY PEOPLE who she trusted and she has so much revenge and resentment in her bones. Vengeful Marianne was an absolute delight to read – it brought something brand new to her character. She doesn’t stay vengeful throughout… and the thing that brings her back to the world ABSOLUTELY MADE MY HEART.

Honestly, I am so grateful to Bex Hogan for putting up with me 20399489384 DMs on twitter as I read because I WAS GOING THROUGH IT.

There were so many moments in this where I was left speechless. At one point I was CRYING SO HARD I had to stop. At another point I was SO SHOCKED by the appearance of a much-hated character that I had to stop.

I truly went through all of the emotions reading this book. I am so incredibly sad that it is over, but now I want to go back to the start and read them all again… just so I can find things that I didn’t see the first time round! There’s so much to feel as you go through this: shock, horror, love, mistrust (oh yes, there were many moments if I didn’t know what I was reading was real, or if I was being duped), sadness, joy and hope. There’s so much to take in at times and there’s so many twists and turns that I didn’t quite know what I was feeling at some points.

This is an incredible ending to the series. I knew I loved these characters and these worlds, but I didn’t quite know how much until I read this and WENT THROUGH IT ALL. This is full of magic, charm and companionship – be that between Marianne and Bronn, the crew on the ship, Marianne and her family or between you and the characters – that you can’t NOT fall in love with this world.

I beg of you, if you haven’t read this series, to please please go off and do it.

My Goodreads review:

I am a SHELL of the person I was. I have been through it all reading Vulture: joy, mistrust, anger, shock, tears (quite a few tears). Bex Hogan has written an exceptional ending to this series and I am so so sad it’s over. These characters have my whole heart! This book was so incredibly clever. So many twists and turns. So much unexpected. It made me so incredibly happy to be back with the characters I love, but I cried A LOT. The ending was so incredibly fitting and I am not ready to say goodbye to my boy Bronn. Just magic.

A massive thank you to the publishers for allowing me to read this on Netgalley. Vulture is out now so PLEASE PLEASE go buy it!!

Have you read any of this series?
Are you a big fan of pirate books?
Do you love Bronn with all of your heart and soul?

I’m off to have a lie down now… this was hard to write without going OMG THIS and OMG THAT and OMG I NEED TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS BIT AND THIS BIT. Please talk to me if you’ve read this because I NEED TO TALK TO PEOPLE.

S x