Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan

The final pages of Girls of Storm and Shadow brought a jaw-dropping conclusion that had the fates of Lei and Wren hanging in uncertainty. But one thing was certain - the Hidden Palace was the last place that Lei would ever consider home. The trauma and tragedy she suffered behind those opulent walls would plague her forever. She could not be trapped there with the sadistic king again, especially without Wren.

The last Lei saw of the girl she loved, Wren was fighting an army of soldiers in a furious battle to the death. With the two girls torn apart and each in terrorizing peril, will they find each other again or have their destinies diverged forever?

Girls of Fate and Fury is the epic conclusion to the "glittering" and "adrenaline-soaked" series by Natasha Ngan, hailed as "a stunning, new talent" for her "beautiful, lush, lyrical" writing.

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Hands up anyone who can guess what my very first remark here is going to be?

Points to you! It's the one I often say: recap.

Storm and Shadow came out two years ago. Paper and Fire was another year before that. Granted, the book I read is a proof, and there are often changes and alterations before publication, but the version I read has nothing in the way of a recap. This is a Loads and Loads of Characters series, and I genuinely only remembered the two main girls and the Demon King. That meant that when people were getting threatened, injured, killed, or showing up to say lines that are clearly references to lines they said before, I had no idea who any of them were and what the significance was. Even parts of the plot, important things that were informing character's actions, I had no memory of.

However, all that aside, this is a good ending to the series. Lots of characters get significant moments, there's action and adventure, lots of tallking (possibly too much talking, in spots; lots of people talk about things we've already had people talking about, especially in Lei's chapters.) I liked that Wren and Lei's chapters were written in different tenses, as it made it easy to remember which POV we were in. The action scenes really hummed, although some of the talking bits felt too long to me, but maybe some people will enjoy them.

I know that authors are writing these more or less at once, and the hope is that eventually readers will buy and read them one after another. But that's not the way they're marketed. I can't be the only reader who would love a recap in this kind of book. Maybe if we keep saying it loudly enough, publishers will start to listen.

(Oh, and I love the map of the palace. Absolutely amazing, so much detail!)

Girls of Fate and Fury publishes on the 23rd of November, 2021 in the UK and on the 30th of November, 2021 in the US using the same cover. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.