Shades of Prophecy by Tessonja Odette
Fantasy. 404 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
An ancient prophecy
A vision of flame
A war to end two worlds…
After years of turmoil, Cora has brought peace to her kingdom at last. Yet, she can’t stop feeling like she’s failed the Elvan and Faeran. Their realm is dying. If she can’t be the woman the ancient prophecy needs, what can she possibly do?
You can’t save everyone.
But maybe someone else can…
A surprising revelation brings new hope and a new threat bigger than anything Cora and her friends have faced before. An ancient enemy awakes. No one is safe, neither human nor fae.
Cora, Teryn, Mareleau, and Larylis each have a part to play to protect the human world and save the Ancient Realm from destruction. But how do you face an enemy that can walk between worlds?
Shades of Prophecy is the final book in the Lela Trilogy, with more romance, more adventure, and more metaphysical magic. If you love unicorns, dragons, and fae, you’ll love this epic fantasy conclusion.
Start the Lela Trilogy with Book One, Shadows of Lela, followed by Book Two, Veil of Mist.
My Review:
A fitting conclusion to a really cool trilogy. I love getting into the different perspectives that the author gives us. I like getting into the minds of our MCs and Tessonja does a good job of keeping the story alive and keeping the transitions clear. We got to see the relationships between our four MCs–Teryn, Cora, Merileu, and Larylis–strengthen and deepen. I loved seeing them mesh and work together, all on the same page. Even some of the secondary characters (I’m looking at you Queen Mother!) made me smile. It was good to see them again and to see how they used everything they’ve come through. M’s growth was touching. She really shined brightly in this final book and I actually really enjoyed that. I liked seeing the relationships they had with each other develop and mature, too.
The setting was fun. We did get to see a bit of new territory, two actually, but we also returned to El’Ara. It was neat to dig a little deeper into their culture, prejudices, fears, strengths, etc. It was also really cool to see how they chose to work with and/or against Lela and the humans. I liked the mash up of worlds this book brought.
I thought the plot was well-paced and well-developed. I wanted to know how everything was going to end and I wasn’t disappointed when it did. A lot of trilogies end with disappointment because the end is a letdown or with anger because it doesn’t feel true to the story. Some endings are anticlimactic and some feel forced. This was not one of those kind of endings. This final installment was well-paced and delivered on everything the trilogy has built up to. I really enjoyed the conclusion and look forward to reading more from this author!
Content: We are in the middle of a war here, so there was some violence, though it was tactfully handled and only mildly graphic. There were two or three mild swear words spattered throughout, but I don’t honestly remember more than that. There is no explicit romance, but there is implications of what goes on between a married man and his wife three or four times. It never goes into detail, which I appreciated very much. I got the romance without the mental images. Great job! I’d probably be okay with giving this to a mid to late teen? Yeah, let’s go with that.
More:
Shadows of Lela is the first book in the Lela Trilogy (4 Stars)
The second book is Veil of Mist (4 Stars)
I’ve read and reviewed the above on Goodreads. You can click the links to find out more. The trilogy should be read in order!
On GraceBought
If you missed it, check out my thoughts on the first two books in the trilogy!
Shadows of Lela and Veil of Mist