Mother of Death and Dawn (The War of Lost Hearts) Paperback – February 6, 2022

"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.

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.

Wow, so much good and bad, so much conflict, so much death. It hurts to read about the death of so many innocents that it makes you want to cry. So many characters looking for a better life to be cut down by evil. Tissaanah and Max drown in the struggle to make their world better it’s hard to see a way out. Carissa Broadbent has written an epic story that allows you to feel the anguish of a lot of her characters. It made me feel all the bad, injustice and sadness for these characters, which I feel is a sign of great writer. So, thank you Carissa for this amazing story and I’m looking forward to more of your stories!

I don’t think I will be able to express just how much I love this series. This book was such an emotional roller coaster but is also the best book I’ve read by Carissa. Such an amazing ending to this beautiful series. I was definitely scared for how this book was going to end due to the amount of heart break and tears I had throughout it.Genuinely broke my heart for what max had to go through in the prison and what was left of him when he was able to escape was so heartbreaking. These characters went through so much and experienced so many things that should’ve shattered them. But those things just made them so much stronger and more determined to bring a better place for their people they love.Tisaanah and Max have my heart they are soulmates and deserve the freaking world. The things they had to do and sacrifice to save everyone they loved is incredible. Throughout all of this their love for each other never broke and they both grew alongside each other. Max being able to get through his fears and trauma like tisaanah did to become the powerful leader she needed to be for her people. Tisaanah and max did what they had to do to ensure everyone could live as peacefully as possible while also bringing new and better opportunities for life.I also really like the two perspectives that were given throughout this book! One from Aefe and Caduans life and story and the other for Tisaanah and Max’s story. It was honestly really interesting seeing both sides reasoning for what they were trying to do and why they were trying to end things. Both sides wanted freedom and peace for their people (Tisaanah wanted it for both humans and Fey) but of course Caduan was consumed with revenge for Aefe and did not know when to stop. I think Caduan did a lot more hurting his own people with his path for revenge than it would’ve been if he chose peace.The memory loss part ripped my heart out. I was a mess during this part especially knowing the feelings Tisaanah was feeling was soul crushing. But I think watching max find his way back and navigate these confusing feelings and vague thoughts was a great challenge to get through and learn from.I absolutely loved every single character in this book…. Except for one….Sammerin and Brayan and Moth, I need sequels for each of these guys please and thank you…I loved these characters so much for everything that they contributed to the story. They were absolutely amazing and moth had me crying.Nura….. still hate her. Glad she got what she deserved. I feel slight sympathy for her in a way since she was basically molded (not by anyone but herself) to be this weapon of some sort. She made herself believe she was doing the right thing but really just turned out to be a worse version of zeryth.The ending was beautiful, chaotic, and filled with so many battles and shocking moments. But overall the closure needed for this story.The epilogue has my heart. Tisaanah and Max finally found their peace and got everything they deserved. I will definitely be rereading this series.