Mother of Death and Dawn (The War of Lost Hearts, 3)

Lauraaaa

Utterly brilliant ending to a wonderful series!

"Spoilers ahead! *It begins with two souls who find themselves suddenly, utterly alone.* I cannot express how much I enjoyed this series. The conclusion was perfect and I will be reading these books many more times in my life. What an epic end to an unbelievable trilogy. 🖤 What I love about this trilogy is that it's unlike anything I've ever read, so it's difficult to predict what is going to happen. I found myself constantly caught by surprise at the way the characters, world and politics developed. This book was full of intense political intrigue and is the perfect, perfect example of seeing the story from multiple sides. Carissa has created a world full of complexity that is so well fleshed out. 🖤 Some of the characters are so complex that I found myself grieving and empathising with the 'villians'. Every single character was trying to do the best that they could for their people and this made for a compelling and addictive read. The truest form of morally grey, depending whose perspective you are reading from. It was completely heartbreaking to witness the redemption arcs, hopelessness, grief, love and growth of some of these characters. *But I understand him. At times, that seems like cruelest part of this of all. We all feel the same things, and we will still die trying to kill each other for it.* 🖤 Tissanah and Max will always have my heart. They are the purest form of soulmates and seeing their progression through the series from friends to lovers was beautiful. The understanding and gentleness between them is the best representation of love I've seen since Aelin and Rowan. Their banter is adorable but so are their vulnerable moments. *I looked at Max and saw the love of my life.....He felt the same, every angle and curve and swell of his body falling against mine in a way that felt like home—my home, and gods, I was never leaving, I was never letting go, I would live here, in the scent of him, in the feel of his breath against my chest, forever.* *At least we understood each other: I love your scars and hate the person who gave them to you.* 🖤 Aefe's story was heartbreaking. She developed so much through this book and her contribution to the story was perfect. I empathised with her and Caduan so much that it was hard to ever see them as 'villians.' All her life, Aefe was used and it took her so long to trust anyone. Her love for Caduan was what brought back her humanity. *You don’t have a choice.” Choice. Choice! I hated that word, hated it the way I hated dreams that never materialized. “I have never had a choice. I have been given the choice to be—to be more than this. I will not be your weapon. Not again. Never.* *I could defeat death. I could save him. I refused to lose anything else, least of all something as precious as him. He had brought me back against all impossibilities. I did not care what it meant for the humans. I did not even care what it meant for the Fey. This, I realized, was love. Love was worth destroying for.* These books will be a regular reread for me. I'm so happy with the way that this series ended but I'm so sad to have left this world. I'll be back! *It ends with two souls who create a future together.* ["

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June 12, 2024 Verified Purchase

E. Maddaleni

Intense, could use an edit

"Fey and humans clash in horrifying ways as deep, dark, magic relentlessly wields its ugly head. I liked this story the best of the three in the series, as I was better able to connect with the characters and complicated story. I appreciate the effort and thought that went into themes and the plot, which is gory and full of high-tension action. The author has an exceptional ability to make life extremely difficult for her characters. The book needs editing, as the wording is occasionally awkward, and worse (for us grammar nerds), the author often uses "I" improperly--subjective "I" sits where objective "me" should: "He barely looked at Max and I" (Ch 104, p 611 (Kindle)) should be "He barely looked at Max and me." "The sound made Max and I freeze" (Ch 107, p 622 (Kindle)) should be "The sound made Max and me freeze." Many other examples lurk in the book, all of which made me cringe. ["

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May 14, 2025 Verified Purchase

Ashley Nolan

The BEST trilogy I’ve read in YEARS

"“Do not fear death, my daughter. We all walk with one foot in each world. There is beauty in impermanence. And what sad lives we would live, if we never loved anything we would lose.” “You are going to die. But do not fear death. Death is a door, and though none of us can follow you through it today, you will cross its threshold knowing that the mark you have left behind will be a worthy one. This is not an end.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I took 24 hours after finishing to gather my thoughts (and the broken pieces of my heart) before attempting to write a review. Because this entire series was a work of art. A masterpiece. Now I see why everyone was screaming at me to read it. I am in utter AWE at Carissa’s writing. This is an EMOTIONAL series/book. Not necessarily sad, but emotional. As in, multiple emotions at play all at once. My favorite thing, about her writing and the overall trilogy, is how well the characters are written. The depth to every single one of them. I was fascinated with Caduan and Aefe in this book in particular, I struggled with feeling like I shouldn’t like them, because they literally want to wipe out humanity, but also loving them and understanding them on a soul deep level. The complexity of these 2 characters was just, unmatched in anything else I’ve ever read. The romance was sweet, and beautiful, and wholesome, and emotional. I love the way max and tissanah SEE each other, and accept each other. With all of the (figurative and literal) scars of their pasts. Tisannah’s understanding of Aefe/reshaye did me in. The whole time max was going on about her, understandably, being evil - all I kept thinking was “but she has been used and abused her entire life. Never accepted. Never known. Hurt and tortured and alone for 500 years” and tisannah SEES that. Because tisannah is good down to her very core. And I loved that about her. Even Nura, who is the villain the main villain here, had layers upon layers of hurts and past dealings that shaped her into the person that give you no choice but to understand her. Not agree, but understand. I felt that the ending was perfect for this story, I wouldn’t have accepted “everyone lives”, so the bittersweet moment near the end was what made the story for me. I’m glad there was a chance for redemption. I will be thinking about these books for years to come. ["

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March 28, 2023 Verified Purchase

Booktalkonly

Perfection

""It ends with two souls who create a future together." First of all, the physical book itself is wonderful. The pages are thick and the book is heavy. I love holding it. Second, I very much enjoy the short chapters. Each one is from a different perspective. And most of them leave on their own little cliffhangers and switches perspectives that leaves you completely infuriated. I absolutely love it! I do wish there was more relationship building. It helps the buildup. Carissa is getting better as she goes. The spice in this book is more than the previous two books in this series. This is not a perfect, happily-ever-after ending. In fact, it's imperfect. Which is what makes it so great. Not only do I recommend, I recommend this entire series. It will live with me forever. Because it's not enough. Never enough. Below are my **SPOILER** thoughts and reactions as I read through the book. Pg. 163: I haven't even started yet but the cover photo... Um excuse me? Is that a crown on her head?!?! I think I'm going to really love this book. Because I'm seeing it from both sides and I agree with both sides. Not all conflicts are black and white where one is solely wrong and the other right. This is that case. I completely understand Caduan. I would feel the same way but genocide is never the answer. Nura is brash and blinded by fear. But she's the one who started it. And she can't allow the fey to wipe out humans. If Nura keeps taking Max out of the prison, why doesn't Tisaanah just wait until one of those times to strike? I'm betting she doesn't know. But if they kept watch they would see them they could get him. Okay so she's got one of the Wayfinders, imbedded in her skin. There are 2 more. Maybe this is how she stops the wars. And max is on his way to Threll! And she doesn't even know! This is so infuriating. I am so elated with the story of Aefe. I so badly want her and Caduan to wind up happy together. They deserve it. Pg. 431: Omg, Zagos is Niraja! Oh i fell in love with that place. The world needs to be like it. Fey and humans living together harmoniously. They can't split up. No. They can't be separated again! This isn't fair! NO! What's the deal with Ishqa? His reasons don't seem enough. Nearly 2 chapters of them embraced together is a breath of fresh air. I needed this. I honestly have no idea how this is going to play out. I don't want either side to win but I don't want them to lose either. Except Nura. She can lose. Um, wtf Caduan. He just left her there? Acted like it was a mistake? Why?? Pg. 589: Ascended above... stop getting captured! It's like the showdown of a lifetime is about to happen. The fey, Aran, rebels, and Thereni all together, all pissed. LETS DO THIS! Tisaanah the leader of Threll, max the leader of Ara, Caduan, and now Ezra is in the mix? There is so much. Yet... not enough. Never enough. Caduan and Aefe 😍 omg! Nice spice scene. How will this resolve?!?! One moral that is see with Ishqa is that one terrible decision doesn't make you a terrible person. Wtf is up with Caduan? What did Ishqa see? Oh damn. Poor Caduan. I love him so much. And no offense but Aefe needs to get over her pity party. Finished: OMG THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! I really appreciate the concept of the fey not being as advanced as the humans because they had immortality. Like the figured they had time to advance and innovate while the humans spent their relatively short lives becoming greater. Caduan saw this and realized this fault in the fey. For a race that lives 10 times as long, they were not as advanced. He wanted to spend his lifetime learning everything about the world only to realize it still wasn't enough time. Omg. So much. Caduan and Aefe. Tisaanah seeing her mom had me crying. Max seeing his daughter made my heart soar for their future. This ending is absolutely crazy. It definitely isn't where I thought it would go. My heart broke for Aefe and Caduan. This isn't quite the happy ending I thought it would be. I didn't expect Aefe and Caduan to meet the end. However, I'm not disappointed in their ending. All Aefe (Reshaye) wanted was to die. And her and Caduan didn't want to live without each other. And in order to close the deep magic, someone had to give their life. And they went together, opening that door. I'm very pleased that Max and Tisaanah didn't keep their high ranking roles. They were not greedy and power hungry but were still in positions to help change the world towards a better future. And the ending so so realistic. Everything didn't go straight to a perfect life for them. They still struggled with the torment that they endured in the past, they worried that their future would be ripped away, and the "new" world wasn't perfect. But this ending WAS! I love that it so imperfect. That's what makes it perfect. ["

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February 8, 2023 Verified Purchase

Natasha Striegel

10 out of 10 series

"This series is an easy 10 out of 10 for me. The world-building is lush and immersive, the yearning feels earned, and the romance is perfectly balanced—emotional, heartfelt, and just the right amount of spice without ever overpowering the plot. The side characters are incredibly well-developed, adding so much depth and texture to the story that I found myself caring about every single thread. As is often the case with trilogies, book two felt a touch slower, but this third installment more than made up for it. It absolutely soared—I couldn’t stop thinking about it during the day at work and found myself counting down the minutes until I could curl up at night and dive back in after putting my kids to bed. Carissa Broadbent has such a gift for weaving together emotional tension, epic stakes, and lyrical storytelling. With Mother of Death and Dawn, she reminded me exactly why I fell in love with her writing in the first place. ["

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February 7, 2026 Verified Purchase