Wow. This book was a Godsdamned JOURNEY. The ending. Oh my gods THAT ENDING.

There were times when I wasn't sure we'd make it there, time would drag and then it would speed up and go by in a blink. If Malachiasz is chaos then this book is like living in his mind. It is chaotic and pointed at the same time. Those points are sharp though and they will exact their pound of flesh. I feel like I could read this book thousands of times and still not fully grasp everything, which can be maddening at times, but is weirdly quite fitting for this story.

This was probably even more dark and gritty and twisty than I expected. I honestly have no clue how all of this will end but I'm dying to see what happens next! I definitely need to follow this one up with something light and fluffy. Give me comfort because I'm shook.

  I loved being back in the world of the wardens! I was a fan of the original trilogy and grew to love Layla, Zayne, Roth (Bambi and Cayman too!). I shipped Layla and Roth HARD. But Zayne was such a good guy and I was so thrilled to hear we'd get more from him and maybe he'd find his match along the way too. Trinity was a welcome addition to the bunch. While I absolutely LOVED seeing Roth and Layla again, I was actually glad we started out in a new place getting to know Trinity before they made an appearance. I also thought it was great to see Zayne out of his typical element. It truly helped this story feel like something very new but also just enough comfortable familiarity that it didn't lose any stride from the original books. It works out great for new readers that haven't read the previous books first as well, of course I recommend doing so because they were great, but it wasn't necessary to enjoy this story.

I really enjoyed all the new friends/frienemies/full blown enemies in this one. Armentrout always writes compelling characters and I can't help but love them all, even the ones I want to kick in the shin repeatedly. Trinity and her makeshift family at the compound were awesome, and let's not forget to mention Peanut! Even the dead are a barrel of laughs! Zayne feels even more real to me in a way now. Like him going through everything he has in the previous books has aged/hardened him in a way I find compelling.

I also want to say I found learning about Trinity's Retinitis Pigmentosa very interesting. I really didn't know much about this disorder except for the few things the author has shared publicly about it since this is a disorder she herself has. I really admired the way Trinity handled it and the way she worked harder than most to not have it negatively impact her life anymore than it absolutely must already. I think there was a heartbreaking, but also kind of beautiful, balance in the deterioration of her eyesight and the incredible amount of insight that she had, maybe because of it. I'm glad Armentrout shared this with her readers. I think it added something extra special to the story. I very much enjoyed reading this one and I can't wait to see what happens next after that crazy/awesome/devastating ending!

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This book was AMAZING! I rarely give a first book in a series 5 stars, but if I could give this book a million stars I would!

The world building was TOP NOTCH. I kept telling my friend this was Ilona Andrews level world building. For those that don't know, that is like the be all end all of world building, in my book at least. It was so vast I kept thinking I could stay in this world forever. I can see where there would be no shortage of stories to be told in this world that McAtee has created. There was a supernatural POWERHOUSE in this book, with plenty of beings that are familiar, shifters, witches, demons, necromancers etc. and some new and fascinating beings I haven't read about before! I enjoyed the fact that Ember was new to this supernatural world too so you got to learn everything about this new mesmerizing place and all its colorful inhabitants side by side with her.

The characters were so diverse and plentiful. There were a lot of people in this story, and there wasn't one that didn't have me completely engrossed in their life. I could not get enough of them! We get a few different POVs in this story, and they are perfectly executed. I am so particular about multiple POVs. If they aren't clearly recognized each time, rather by each voice being distinguishable and unique enough to stand on their own obviously, or by marking it at the chapter changes, I tend to be disappointed. I had no problem with that here. I was honestly kind of blown away how seamlessly the shift was made each time, and even more impressively, how loveable each person was! I was always happy to spend time seeing things through any of their eyes and that is no easy task!

It also needs to be said that this cover is stunning as well! I really can't even do this book enough justice with a review. I loved everything about it, plain and simple. And if any of this sounds even remotely like something you may enjoy, pick this book up because I have a feeling you are going to fall in love with it too.

    Well, I can definitely say that this story was one HELL of a ride. *Bad pun intended!* I have to admit that when I was asked to read and review this, I was slightly hesitant. I'm not typically keen on heavy religiously themed stories, but honestly, the blurb and the way the author described it won me over. Especially when I started thinking that it sounded vaguely similar, with the modern day comedic based religious theme, to one of my favorite movies...Dogma.

So yeah, that solidified it for me. I know what you're probably thinking...

and with that, I say to you

Okay, Okay, back to the story. So I went for it, and honestly I am glad I did. The hilarious plot line of a tattooed, orange haired, trucker mouthed, lesbian being the second coming, and the big G and his disciples being the heads of a huge corporation, and Judas as the ultimate anti-hero, I loved every second of all of that!

Even with the comedic awesomeness aside, the characters were compelling, the action scenes were engaging, and the visuals that the author painted were extremely vivid, whether it was the urban setting, an exceedingly grotesque foe, or even a steamy little romp. Monroe seriously knows how to tell a story. The sarcasm, and medium use of profanity were just extra little perks, like the yummy cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae.

I also appreciated that you didn't have to be well versed in the bible to get a lot of what was going on and who key players were. I would say that even a person with very little biblical knowledge would easily be able to follow along and recognize most, if not all the big names.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

    Okay so I am a pretty big JLA fan, and while I mostly enjoyed this series....it wasn't really my favorite. I think my biggest issue with this series as a whole was, quite frankly, Layla. I liked the idea of her more than I actually liked her. The idea of this person who quite literally was both sides of the token, both "good" and "evil" sounded great to me! But I think where it fell short with me is that, with the exception of a few badass comments here and there in this last addition, Layla really only embraced the "good" side of herself. And to be honest, it was a little disappointing. Now I was glad to see her finally accept herself in this book, but I really would have liked to see more of that throughout the series, and turned up a few notches too boot. I mean look at Roth, he's a demon who, besides having Layla's back, was pretty much up to no good on a regular, and you know what, I loved it! I get that a huge point of this story was that no one is really all good or bad, I get that. I guess I would have liked to see Layla not only accept that, but to blatantly OWN it.

    I have to say I really enjoyed the side characters more so than the main character. Well, with the exception of Roth, he was pretty awesome, and always entertaining.

Seriously though can we get like a Cayman novella or something out of this?! I honestly loved the demons so much better than the Wardens! Each demon we came across was interesting to me! I would have loved to see a story more focused on them! The whole Warden holier than thou attitude was off putting to me. Yet another area where I thought they were better in theory, at least for me. One of my absolute favorite things in this story were the familiars! Omg can that please be in real life one day?! These magical animals that bonded with their hosts were all kinds of amazing. And Bambi the Warden eating monster snake was at the very tip top of my favorite list! At one point in this story I actually teared up at a scene with Bambi. I felt immediately transported back to my childhood years where I pretty much felt more for animals than I did other humans lol.

    Ultimately if you've already read the other two you don't want to miss this one, lots of stuff goes down....Layla finally chooses between Roth and Stoney, which was a huge thing with the fans in war over which one she should be with! Things wrap up rather nicely. It was a fitting conclusion. And you even get a brief encounter with the Boss at one point, which was way cool! I really liked the world JLA created here, and I think it would be sweet if we got to explore the darker side of it more in a future book. Who knows, maybe one day!