Crucible Zero (House Immortal, #3) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Mar 08, 2015 Steph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-웃, favorites-2015, arc-netgalley, series-i-love, favorites-all-years, year-read-2015, my-re-reads, series-ended, series-final-book, series-completed

(Rating reduced from 5 to 4-stars after June 2025 re-read)

Crucible Zero picks up right where Infinity Bell's cliffhanger left us hanging. So, if you haven't read books 1-2, this is not the review you're looking for. If you have, welcome to the spoiler zone.

"In somnis veritas ... In dreams there is truth."

(view spoiler) (Rating reduced from 5 to 4-stars after June 2025 re-read)

Crucible Zero picks up right where Infinity Bell's cliffhanger left us hanging. So, if you haven't read books 1-2, this is not the review you're looking for. If you have, welcome to the spoiler zone.

"In somnis veritas ... In dreams there is truth."

(view spoiler)[
Matilda's world has changed. After going back in time to stop the Wings of Mercury experiment from destroying millions, including all the galvanized, Matilda is experiencing "timeways". These timeways are two different realities - the one she left, where everyone she loved had died in an explosion and the one she's now living in, where those closest to her are alive. Everyone except Evelyn, whose body she inhabits.

In Matilda's time, her memories were placed inside of Evelyn's body and, when she awoke, she lived her life as Matilda. In this new timeway, Evelyn is the girl who awoke and lived. Quinten, Matilda/Evelyn's brother is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Evelyn is gone, yet he believes Matilda's story of time-travel because of what she knows.

If I were to remove any stars, it would be for the quick acceptance of Matilda's story. But, I'm not because the story was so very good. The characters who lost their lives in Infinity Bell are alive and, similarly to Matilda, I am overjoyed. Monk created such a wonderful array of characters and it was hard to see anyone close to Tilly die.

This timeway that Matilda finds herself living in is much different from the one she remembers. However, thankfully, the people in her life now remain very similar, at the core, to who they were in her time. Some things have changed - Abraham is a mercenary, all galvanized are guns for hire with no loyalties to any House. In her time, ...the galvanized had done a lot of good for the world, and for people and human rights. Additionally, this Abraham is not the Abraham Matilda fell in love with and she's not 100% sure she can trust him.

Abraham and Foster have been searching for Matilda since she found them in 1910, when she traveled back to change the Wings of Mercury experiment. In fact, unbeknownst to Matilda, Foster has played a huge part in her life.

Furthermore, for the past fifty years in this timeway, a different plague has hit each decade wiping out millions of people. Quentin has been working on a cure for the latest plague. One person knows for a fact that Matilda is in a timeway other than her own - Slater. In her original timeway, he was the head of House Orange. In this timeway, he's the head of House Fire and he has put a bounty on the Cases. He knows about the cure and he wants it. In addition to the cure, he wants the piece of the Wings of Mercury experiment that Matilda supposedly has in her possession. This missing piece is causing a collision of the multiple timeways and Slater wants to insure the permanent timeway is the one where the Cases are dead and he's in charge - of everything and everyone.
(hide spoiler)]

There's nothing worse that reading a finale and not knowing it's the end beforehand. That was the case for me and Crucible Zero . I'd assumed there would be more to come, so I gobbled up this book in less than 24 hours. Oh how I wish I'd taken my time. The good thing is I can always re-read the trilogy.

Still, while it's sad to know that this is the end for House Immortal, Monk did a wonderful job with the trilogy. Throughout it we learn about Matilda, her brother, and Neds' life on the farm; the history of the galvanized, the Houses and those who rule them; and their struggle to set right that which the Wings of Mercury experiment broke.

I highly recommend this unique and thrilling trilogy! My one recommendation: have all three books on-hand before starting - the cliffhangers are excruciatingly painful.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP/ROC and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Quote taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy. ...more

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