Review–The Descent (The Taker #3) by Alma Katsu

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The Descent (The Taker Trilogy #3)
by Alma Katsu
 
Summary: The final installment in the “mesmerizing” (Booklist, starred review) and addictive trilogy—find out who truly holds the key to Lanny’s heart and whether she’ll ever be reunited with her beloved in this gripping supernatural tale of magic, lust, and longing.
Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.
Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?
Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with
The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.

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Source: I preordered a paperback.

Review:

The Descent was spectacular! I’ve been waiting for the conclusion to the trilogy for what seems like ages. I took the past few days to reread The Taker and The Reckoning and fell in love with the story all over again. It really is an epic tale. I thought I might have known where it would go in the end, but I’m happy that the author surprised me so much and the story took a turn I didn’t expect. The Descent was completely unpredictable.

Adair is so complex, my emotions about him were everywhere. I loathed him in The Taker, but I adored him in The Reckoning. In The Descent, I absolutely loved him. I think knowing of his horrifying past and knowing what he was capable of made it even more wonderful when I finally realized I loved his character. I also felt the same way about Lanny. While I never truly disliked her, she was petty, immature, and naïve and her immortal life granted her a lot of perspective. She was no saint herself and I thought the terrible things she did eventually shaped her into a better person. I’d rather her be terrible than the innocent and naïve Puritan she was at the beginning of her tale.

I love how the series makes me think about what it means to be good person, if terrible acts can be redeemed later, and it also touches on the price of immortality. I’m a huge fan of immortality, what with vampires being my favorite supernatural creatures and all. I would love to be immortal, able to travel through the ages and learn so much about everything, but this trilogy did a wonderful job of showing someone like me what the cost of living forever is. A lot of stories touch on the whole losing mortals you care about thing, but I like how The Taker Trilogy deals with living with yourself and your past. Keeping all of your memories, committing terrible acts along the way, and having to continue on knowing all of the things you’ve done and all of the souls you’ve wronged. And even better, The Taker Trilogy takes the whole vampire thing out of the equation and makes it more human. You can be immortal and be terrible without having to have your hand forced by only surviving on human blood. You would be terrible regardless of your diet. I love it.

The twist in The Descent really took me by surprise. I totally didn’t see it coming, but I appreciated it. I like the way the novel allowed room for questions of creation and death and origins, as I didn’t expect it to go there. I loved it and everything it meant. I’d love to reread the trilogy again at a later point knowing what I know now. It was definitely eye opening.

The only negative thing I can say about The Descent is that it was far too short for such a large plot twist. I wanted so much more. It could have, and should have, been about 2-3 times longer. I wished for more detail and more history. Perhaps the plot twist would have not been such a  surprise if that was the case, but each time period was so thoroughly experienced in the novel and I wished that was the case for the events in The Descent. I also wished it ended later. I can’t really explain what that means without spoiling anything, but I wanted more of the ending events to continue on.

Overall, The Taker Trilogy is fantastic and The Descent did not disappoint. I highly recommend the trilogy if you are a fan of paranormal themes, gothic fiction, and dark romance. It is a bit graphic, kind of horrifying, but awesome and somehow swoon worthy at the same time. It is an unforgettable trilogy and I’m sad it’s over!

5%2520star
 
Catch up on The Taker Trilogy:
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The Taker . The Reckoning
 
Novellas:
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The Witch Sisters . The Devi’s Scribe . The Marriage Price
 

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