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RedditIn this The Unseelie King book review I’m sharing my thoughts on the final book in the Maze of Shadows series by Kathryn Ann Kingsley. As usual I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum however, there may still be a few small spoilers in this review.
“She glanced over her shoulder at him as she kept walking, a playful if somewhat feral grin on her face. ‘I’m going boar hunting.’” Kathryn Ann Kingsley, The Unseelie King
Kathryn Ann Kingsley, The Unseelie King
Once again I had seen this series being recommended on Tik Tok and I couldn’t resist. While it’s my first real villain romance read it has absolutely set the bar for any future villain romance reads in the future. Kathryn Ann Kingsley has become a favorite for this genre with how beautifully she’s written terrifying monsters.
Trigger Warnings
Since we don’t always get trigger warnings on books I like to give trigger warnings in my reviews. This can help people avoid certain triggers that could hurt their mental well being.
Possible Triggers in this book are:
- Alcohol
- Assault
- Blood
- Bones
- Death
- Fire
- Kidnapping
- Occult
- Profanity
- Sexually Explicit Scenes
- Suicide
- Torture
- Violence
- War
For a list of the triggers I look for you can check out this link here. This may or may not be a complete list of triggers for this book, I do my best to make sure I mark anything that could be a potential trigger but I may accidentally miss triggers.
Synopsis and Author
After a massive betrayal by even those closest to her Abigail now has to decide if she will free the villain she loves for her, or if she will leave him trapped so that two worlds will survive his lust for war and death.
If she frees him she will need to find another way to stop him from killing the Seelie and humans. However, there are forces at play and she doesn’t even see what’s coming.
Kathryn Ann Kingsley brings us the conclusion to the Maze of Shadows series with this beautiful, action packed, and romantic ending. We finally find out the answer to the Maze and see just how far Viceroy will go for love while accomplishing the goals he was created for, and just how far Abigail will go for love and to stop him.
The Unseelie King Reading Experience
We are once again in Tir n’Aill following Abigail, Viceroy, Afran, Perin, Titania, and others in a third person narrative. Once again we spend a large portion of the book in a new location within the maze that no one has seen before.
The plot moves pretty quickly with this one and is a heartbreaking emotional roller coaster of emotions as we deal with betrayal from unexpected places. I personally could not put this book down until I finished it.
Writing Style
The Unseelie King ebook is 252 pages with 25 chapters and a beautiful epilogue. It took me about 5 hours to read through so it was a fairly easy read. As usual, Kathryn Ann Kingsley does a fantastic job with world building and character growth and development. She really brings the story to life in a way that allows you to immerse yourself.
I didn’t see the ending coming. I thought for sure something else was going to happen, especially when we found out the answer to the Maze. However, I really appreciate the epilogue in this story as it does finalize and give a happy ending.
Kathryn Ann Kingsley did a beautiful job with this entire series. I loved her writing style, how she makes monsters beautiful, and how she brings the characters to life and makes you fall for them.
The Unseelie King Book Review
Abigail and Viceroy are obvious favorites at this point in the series. However, it was a bit touch and go there for Viceroy with some of his actions. However, all things were explained, and while it doesn’t make it right, it makes it understandable.
By the end of the book Bayodan and Cruinn are back on my list of favorites even after their betrayal. Again, I understand why they did what they did. I was also not ready for the heartbreak.
Perin and Anfar, these two just warm my heart. Finally, Puck as a human is interesting. The way he interacts and how it confuses people is almost hilarious. Additionally, he plays a huge role and helps a lot in this book.
Queen Titania is still on my hated list. She made a huge mistake and I just cannot find it in me to forgive her for her actions when it cost so much. There was an out and the possibility of figuring out a way to stop the future war and she sacrificed that.
The twists in this book all the way to the ending is absolutely beautiful. I love the ending for this book. Like I said in my previous review, the villain love story is new to me but Kathryn Ann Kingsley set the bar extremely high.
If you are a fan of Zodiac Academy or CN Crawford this is probably a series you would like as well.
Star Rating
Before I rate this book I want to give you a bit of background about what my rankings mean. I typically read books that I check out through the Libby app with my local library or through Kindle Unlimited.
I rarely buy ebooks unless they are cheaply priced or on sale. I also very rarely buy physical copies of books. I’m a bit of a minimalist so I have to absolutely adore a book to buy a physical copy that will be proudly displayed in my home.
So my ranking system is as follows:
- 5 Stars equals I am buying a physical copy of this book. I will read this book at least 10 more times, it is the best ever.
- 4 stars equals a great book. I might buy an ebook version when it’s on sale so that I can re-read it at least one more time.
- 3 stars equals a good book. I likely won’t read again but I appreciate the story.
- 2 stars equals “Meh.” I will not read this book again, it had a lot of problems and I did not care for it.
- 1 star equals a bad book. I barely finished this book and I will never recommend anyone waste valuable book reading time on this book.
- 0 stars is a did not finish book. I will never finish that book and it is banished.
The Unseelie King gets 5 stars from me. It was the perfect ending to this series. Kathryn Ann Kingsley found a way to keep the characters to their original goals without sacrificing the love these characters share. Additionally, the development and growth was realistic without having such an uncharacteristic change.
Likes:
- The epilogue has a beautiful end.
- Puck brought some much needed humor.
- Viceroy is a super interesting character and I loved his growth.
Final Thoughts on The Unseelie King
This entire series was beautiful. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the author does an amazing job with bringing monsters to life but showing just how beautiful they really are. Kathryn Ann Kingsley brings this world and characters to life in a way that just sucks you in and keeps you reading.
I enjoyed this series a lot. It was a beautiful series that will stick with me and likely end up as a series I buy a physical copy of.
Maze of Shadows Book Reviews
Have you read The Unseelie King? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite book boards.
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