Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly, #3) in End of the Series Reading Challenge

Dec 22, 2013 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, steampunk, historical-fiction

This book completely broke my heart... Some things seemed unnecessary, especially at the end, like there was NO reason for it happen, but other than that I loved this final installment!

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Oct 19, 2013 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mindblowingly-amazing-books, badass-heroines, heartbreaking-endings

I love this trilogy more than I thought I ever could. A dark and gritty tale of necromancy, magic, and romance, Strange and Ever After captivated me and utterly broke my heart at the same time.

I absolutely loved the world building in this book. The descriptions of 19th century Egypt are beautiful and vivid. The plot moved at a very fast pace as well, bringing on one whirlwind of an adventure! Demons, artifacts, tombs and magic- the thrills never stopped!

And now I will talk about the characters I love this trilogy more than I thought I ever could. A dark and gritty tale of necromancy, magic, and romance, Strange and Ever After captivated me and utterly broke my heart at the same time.

I absolutely loved the world building in this book. The descriptions of 19th century Egypt are beautiful and vivid. The plot moved at a very fast pace as well, bringing on one whirlwind of an adventure! Demons, artifacts, tombs and magic- the thrills never stopped!

And now I will talk about the characters because God I loved the characters. Susan Dennard KNOWS how to do character connection. Actually, she knows how do it TOO well... And when she takes away the character- bam. My heart's broken. Ripped apart. Torn to shreds. Absolutely crushed into pieces.

I am not exaggerating.

I should have paid more attention to the foreshadowing. Because, wow. Ack. My brain is mush.

Eleanor Fitt- love her name!- she was one spunky, fiesty heroine. To be honest, I had a love hate relationship with her. One minute I admired her, then the next I'd want to shake her for being so stubborn. And Daniel Sheridan- Don't you just love how his name rolls off your tongue? I swear this book has the best character names- our ingenius inventor, resident book boyfriend. He's AMAZING. So sweet and thoughtful, yet temperimental and hotheaded, but I love him to bits.

And I have to say- The book's ending in unexpected. Very, very unexpected. Yet, very realistic. In a huge battle, there are often losses. Most authors though, want to make a happy ending for everyone. But Susan Dennard wasn't scared to make a realistic- but very, very heartbreaking- ending. For a moment, I refused to believe it... It has finally sunk in now, a good 4 hours after I finished it. But I loved the writing, the portrayal, and the message on how valuable life is.

The Rating
6 stars and many many more. This book deserves it. This historical steampunk fantasy paranormal romance mashup worked great, and made a HUGE impact on me. I highly recommend this. The plot is great, and the premise is just so unique, and the characters will dwell in your hearts long after you've finished the book.

(Here's to pretending chapter 20 doesn't exist!) ...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Shauna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction, paranormal-or-supernatural, period-piece-historical, books-read-in-2014, mostly-enjoyable-yet-disappointing, 3-5-4-stars

Gosh, I am SO torn right now. In some ways, I am satisfied with the ending - I adored Eleanor's final scenes. I kind of think that summed up the theme of the entire series: Never be afraid of being yourself. Even if it's a little bit strange, it's always better to be yourself than pretend to be someone your not, just to appear to be what you think people expect you to be. You are strong and capable just the way you are. Yes, that is so great. But on the other hand, I truly don't know if (view sp ...more

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