Today’s review is going to be a negative one and that is unfortunate because it’s for the last book in the Wicked trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Brave just doesn’t hold up to its predecessors, Wicked and Torn. This review will have slight spoilers.

Synopsis:

Ivy Morgan hasn’t been feeling like herself lately. Not like anyone can blame her. After all, being held captive by a psychotic fae prince hell-bent on permanently opening the gates to the Otherworld is bound to leave some mental scars.

It’s more than that, though. Something dark and insidious is spreading throughout Ivy, more powerful than she could ever imagine… and it’s coming between her and the man she’s fallen deeply in love with, elite Order member Ren Owens.

Ren would do anything to keep Ivy safe. Anything. But when he makes a life altering choice for her, the fallout of his act has far reaching consequences that threaten to tear their lives apart.

If Ivy is going to have any hope of surviving this, she must put aside the hurt and betrayal she feels, and work with not only those she loves, but with an enemy she would rather kill than ever trust. War is coming, and it soon becomes clear that what Ivy and Ren thought they knew about the Order, themselves, and even their enemies, has been nothing but a cluster of dangerous, deadly lies.

Ivy knows she must be more than just brave to save those she loves–and, ultimately, to save herself.

Because behind every evil Fae Prince, there’s a Queen….

My Thoughts: 

I don’t know about you but I like my plot with a side of romance, not the other way around. It was very clear that Armentrout was SUPER into Ivy and Ren’s relationship, which is great, but the rest of the story and characters felt neglected. Throughout the books, their relationship was the most developed. Of course, there were a few big twists in the main plot but they were predictable and seemed to take a back seat to the romance. I also don’t feel that Ivy and Ren really grew as characters despite their relationship developing.

Over the course of a series, I want to see pretty big changes in the main characters and that just didn’t happen here. If anything, Ivy changed for the worst. She started out spunky and brave but transformed into a whiny and stupid person. She consistently made bad decisions and overlooked things that should have been obvious. Ren stayed consistent but again, I would’ve liked to see him develop. I did love Tink throughout all three books but he had a much smaller role in this one. All of the other characters just seemed to fade into the background because the focus was solely on Ivy and Ren. 

This book also didn’t feel like the ending of a trilogy. The pacing was soooo slow and the ending was a cliff hanger. There are three novellas in this series so I’m hoping they resolve some of the issues in this book. I’ve seen in reviews that many people prefer the novellas to the main three books so I have high hopes for them. The Fae Princes and Queen were the most interesting characters but unfortunately, this book skimmed over them. I’m really hoping that the novellas are focused on the Fae characters because I’m honestly bored with Ivy and Ren.

Final Thoughts:

I do still recommend this book and trilogy because it was a fun read. These books have issues but if you’re just wanting to read some fantasy with a ton of romance, this series is entertaining enough. I will be reviewing the novellas so fingers crossed that I like them more! Does this series sound like one you’d like? Thanks for reading and have a great day!