The Last Hero

iam

Apr 28

I loved this series from the very beginning. The characters, the plot, the way it absolutely gutted me, how it handles loss of bodily autonomy, rebellion, suffering, and so much more. So to reach the story's finale felt very special to me. It's hard for me to put into words.

I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Let me start by saying that this was an absolutely worthy conclusion. It kept raising the (already high) stakes from the beginning, extending personal to comunal to global and galactic tragedy. Whenver I thought things had gotten as bad as they could get, it kept getting worse. It greatly portrayed what suffering can do to different people, and it was gutting. The conflicts happened not only on a plot level, but also on a personal level.

But all throughout, it also gave hope. A tiny glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, even as everything around the character shattered.

I think what stands out the most to me about the series are the characters. They've come to mean so much to me. Especially Hiro, and Lito to a lesser extend. They are fundamentally different, in their personalities, their personal stories and struggles, the roles they play throughout the plot. And yet they remained intrinsically connected. They objectively spend very little time in the same space, and their interactions were very limited, but their bond still touched me deeply.

But even as they were my favourites, I appreciated the others too. As the old POV characters remain, two new ones are added: Castor and Lily, who share their chapters as they are twins and their plots are closely linked. In the ebook, it sometimes was hard to tell who of them was talking, but in the audiobook, that uses different narrators for each POV character, that wasn't an issue. I also really commend the choice of narrators for each character, they fit very well.
I greatly enjoyed their addition as POV characters, as it finally adds a much needed Aster voice to the protagonists. The Aster rebellion is so central to the plot, and yet so many of the key players are human, which felt strange to me.

Astrid's plot had some interesting developments, and remains a very powerful story of fighting for self-governance.

While they aren't POV characters, I also loved what was done with Sorrel and Ophiera. Their story is heart-wrenching from start to finish, but it was wonderfully executed.

My one gripe with the book lays in one of the (very minor, to be fair) romantic subplots, that comes completely out of the blue. I reread books 1 and 2 before starting The Last Hero and I was completely blindsided by the sudden attraction between the two characters.

My favourite books are those that, while reading, make a little movie play in my mind. This entire series did that from page 1 onwards. I cannot recommend it enough, though do please look out for content warnings.

Check the book out on Goodreads and buy it here.

~iam