13617556Title: Taste of Darkness

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Publication Date: December 2013

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Series or Stand Alone: Series, Book Three

Synopsis can be found here.
I received a copy of this book from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review:

Avry and Kerrick  are in the middle of the war. Prince Rynd is outnumbered, his forces stretched and now faces a new foe called The Skeleton King. Avry is preoccupied because Kerrick has wandered off into the forest and disappeared. Is he injured? Or dead? And the plague… it’s back. Even though their main foe Tohon is frozen, that doesn’t stop his magic or his armies from advancing. And destroying everything in its path.

Really well done. With lots of action, Taste of Darkness immerses you in the world from page one and doesn’t let go. Nor would you ever want to. Snyder doesn’t give a whole lot of back story at the beginning. Mostly the reader is thrown into the action and small tidbits are sprinkled in just in case you forgot some plot points. I usually don’t like full paragraphs of recap, so this worked out well for me as I was able to dive back into the world and the urgency of the plot fairly quickly and not get too caught up in past circumstances.  That said, I am pretty sure I am forgetting some previous events and am tempted to go back and re-read the first and second books just so I can read them all together like one big crazy book.

Oh, did I mention I love this series?

This is my favorite Maria V. Snyder series to date and I can’t get enough of these characters. They’re full and rich and complicated. And the secondary characters are fun with a lot of personality. I love the danger, the tactics, the ambushes, the conspiracies. I was wondering how everything was going to tie up at the end and I have to admit, the ending did seem slightly rushed. I would have liked a little more time with the characters once the war was over. But that is probably my only gripe.

I’m just sad that this seems to be the conclusion to this series. I had such a great time reading it.

Overall, a wonderfully action packed book and the end to a fantastic series. I’m not kidding. I’ll go back and re-read them again soon. I mean, how can I stay away from a world with magic, princes and healers?

Rating 8 Cookie Worthy