From book 1, Rhen and Harper have had my heart and that will never change. They both made terrible mistakes, but what matters more is that they learned and changed for the better. Especially Rhen. It absolutely disgusted me that Grey steamrolled over Rhen like that. Rhen's kingdom wasn't in tatters because he was hopeless, rather that the kingdom had been cursed. He had the potential to be a great ruler, was trained for it and accepted the responsibility. He also loved his people dearly, whereas we never hear about Grey feeling any duty to the people of Emberfall. Why oh why couldn't Lia Mara and Grey rule Syhl Shallow and Harper and Rhen rule Emberfall? We would then be assured of a peaceful land with those precious trade routes in tact. Let’s talk about something that wasn’t as disappointing: the romance - probably only because both relationships were mostly developed in the previous books and didn’t need to be put under too much attention by this book, thankfully. Specifically, the one between Lia Mara and Grey.

Too bad I couldn't care much about his and Lia Mara's POVs though. (In fact, I actually disliked them less in this book) I feel like AVSBAD was really for Rhen & Harper and I'M 100% OKAY WITH THAT.🥰 I wasn’t too happy to find out I just got a sample of the book it is 4 very small chapters. I am one that never reads long excerpts or if a writer has a chapter available early on, I never read it. I want to read the whole book at once. Though since I grabbed this from Netgalley I figure I have to honor my commitments and do at least somewhat of a review.

Writing this out makes me realize how much I hate Grey. I don't feel indifferent to him anymore. I hate him with a PASSION. And I also realize I don't like Lia Mara as much as I said I did- she kinda has a personality, which is really just being nice and fair to everyone, which isn't a bad personality to have at all, but still, she needs more depth.

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad book. But it was the weakest of the trilogy simply because it didn't have enough meat to fill out its bones. There was so much unnecessary filler in the beginning, it completely bogged down the pacing. And since all the action and development was saved for the end, the rest of the book felt meandering and plodding. This was one of my most anticipated books of 2020, so you better believe that I bought it on release day and cleared my evening schedule of anything that would interrupt my reading sesh. I started it…and then kept going, reading way too late into a work night (my productivity definitely suffered that Wednesday). Kemmerer has this way of making a book go down so smoothly. We all have a list of authors who seem to just GET what we want from a story. It’s hard to put into words what makes this book so wonderful. Maybe the great world-building, the fleshed-out characters, the perfect balance of humor and heart? Hmm. Who knows. He was the only reason I did not DNF this book. I actually forgot how much I loved him and this book reminded me of that. He goes through so much in this series and I hate how, whenever we get scenes with him, the main focus was everything he did bad. About every bad decision he's made. Guess what? He's human. He makes mistakes so please let him be and also think about the good things he did. Thank you. Continuous doze of Lia Mara crying CaUsE oH sHe iS nOt hEr mOtHeR aNd sHe is too soft and too kind and too sweet and too annoying (somebody stop her before she lets out all the murderers and criminals from dungeon to prove her "generosity")It was a very bold choice to steer away from Rhen’s POV because witnessing his harsh treatment of Grey and others without the benefit of his internal voice means that an established main character who is loved by readers now appears in a very unflattering light, to put it mildly. Rhen being cast in the position of antagonist is a surprise and makes the story very unpredictable as there’s no telling how far he’ll go while trapped in the depths of paranoia with his PTSD further compounding the issue. A Vow So Bold and Deadly was exactly what I was hoping it would be. While I’m so sad this series is over, I couldn’t imagine a better conclusion. I despise that ending with every fibre of my being. Why, Brigid, why? DON'T LOOK AT THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T AVSBAD --------> okay, but maybe I'm getting mad over something stupid BUT Rhen lost his kingdom, lost his status as king, LOST HIS EYE, is scarred, nobody in his kingdom likes him, doesn't know what to do with his life now....and GREY gets his own kingdom, everyone loves him, he's perfectly fine with no noticeable scars (unlike Rhen *sobs*), he and Lia Mara are going to have a baby, he's king....I DON'T LIKE THE UNFAIRNESS OF THIS BUT I UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS REALISTIC CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED IN BOOK 2. RHEN, MY BABY😭😭 This author has many possibilities for a return to this world and I'm curious to see what she would do if that happens. oh wow. im quite conflicted about this one. this is my most anticipated sequel and release of 2020 and i am happy with this, but im also really let down by it. hear me out.