After the events of the summer, Ethan, Lena and all their loved ones are dealing with the consequences of their actions as this southern gothic turns to the End of Days.

Garcia and Stohl jump right into the the dire state of Gatlin with plagues of locusts or lubbers as they are dubbed, heat burning the asphalt, Amma’s going dark and worse, the casters’ powers going out of whack. It’s all very Biblical and Gatlins’ mortal citizens react accordingy with extra mass and stocking up the bunkers for the time when the Devil arrives for Final Judgement.

The Devil being Abraham Ravenwood and his nasty co-horts who want to use this convenient chaos to bring about the New Order, wiping out the inferior Light Casters. Only Abraham is messing with beings larger than himself for it is repeated ominously throughout the book, “The Wheel of Fate crushes us all.”

I must confess I had skimmed this series before, this being my first real read of it, so I already knew what was going to happen at the end. However, Garcia and Stohl do a good job in omniously forshadowing the fate of the ending, building the suspense between Amma’s desperate bargain with the bokor and the muddled confusion of Ethan’s visions and dreams.

And it’s not the visions confusing him but Ethan is losing his memories and feeling a haunting presence following him. The price of being brought back to life finally come back to hit him. Even as Ethan tries to shove it aside, a sort of internalized denial of how everything is awful, he can’t handle another thing, it makes him feel helpless in the face of insurmountable problem with no solution.

Another thing that adds to the helplessness is Amma shutting him out and lying to him. Even though the Casters’ muddled state of powers is bad, seeing the rock-solid Amma cross spiritual and moral lines is almost as scary as the earthquakes ripping across the town. It adds to the feeling that the world is going to end with the signs of everyone acting wildly out of character.

Another thing that is a sure sign of the apolocypse is that Link or Linkubus is now a hit with all the ladies, star of the basketball team and all-around rock star. While he’s enjoying his newfound powers, he’s still hooked on the former siren Ridley who seems to be suspiciously able to continue casting and causing trouble. It provides some humor in this apocolyptic tale while also connecting to the mystery surrounding John Breed that was left in a cliffhanger in the last book.

For even though John Breed had a minor page time, he provided a pivotal point of lore in revealing Abraham’s master plan, his origins and getting his own dose of character development. All very impressive within less than 200 pages. He also forms a surprisingly sweet connection with Liv. And although I still care more for Liv and Ethan, I appreciate how they were able to maintain their friendship and their connection after Ethan dropped the ball in the last book.

It helped that the book finally made me like Lena. Perhaps the authors heard the critiques about Lena’s behavior in Beautiful Darkness as Ridley’s Fueror cast lets Lena and Liv fight out their irritation with each other and call Lena a spoiled girl who thinks the world revolves around her while breaking Ethan’s heart. I was far too satisified with that scene. But in more positive news, Lena is a good sounding board for Ethan here and I can appreciate their romance when they do have quiet moments together when they’re almost an ordinary couple. It’s incredible rare considering the state of their lives, but nice nonetheless.

We get more visions revealing Sarafina’s past, a Greek tragedy to see how the darkness begins to consume her with the goading “help” of Abraham that eventually leads her to the monster she becomes now. It also made me feel bad for Lena to see how her mother could have been compared to what she had become.

But we’re not only going into the past, but in the future. We have Amma’s foray to change the Wheel of Fate as well as Ethan and his friends confronting the Far Keep who wish to charge Marian with treason for protecting Liv after she breaks her oath as Keeper. But the Far Keep may be part of a more sinister conspiracy. It also is a key to learning more of Ethan’s role as a Wayward.

Meanwhile, Sarafine acted as the tragic monster in the book while Abraham played straight monster as his revenge against Ethan and his family when he doesn’t reveal where John Breed is, tips him over to even more heinous territory. I mean he was before, but it is more personal when he attacs Ethan’s family because I’ve become more attached to Ethan and his journey through these three books.

I enjoyed the mood change here, I suppose it fits as it is the End of Days, but it is more philosphical, more moving as Ethan begins to ponder more about fate, choice and love.

I know this book may have been more vague than my previous reviews but I’m trying to keep the spoilers to the minimum as the emotional moments are best experienced when you read, of which they’re many. For those who want a great dose of action combined with introspective character growth than this one will fill you up like Amma’s pecan pie.