Memoria by J. J. Fischer
Post-Apocalyptic. 384 Pages. Stars
Synopsis:
Would you save a life if you knew it would destroy another?
In the deeply divided world of Caldera, nothing is as it seems. Taken captive by a faceless enemy, Sephone Winter fights to reclaim her soul as her gift spirals out of control and the deadly poison coursing through her veins begins to exact its terrible vengeance.
Meanwhile, Dorian and Cass are forced into an uneasy alliance in order to find the woman they both love . . . a woman who has all but vanished from the face of the earth, along with the Reliquary. Finding her becomes impossible as the identity of their greatest adversary continues to elude them.
When Caldera’s past catches up with the trio’s future, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass are forced to make decisions that threaten everything and everyone they care about. Each of them is offered a chance to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of the other—but will they take it? And what will it cost them in the end?
The Nightingale Trilogy is a fantasy transformation of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved 1843 tale The Nightingale, with echoes of the myths of Hades and Persephone.
My Review:
Everything comes together in the finale! I really enjoyed how all of the different threads really did come together for this. Sometimes stories don’t successfully tie everything together and pieces feel like they don’t fully fit, but not so here! Fischer manages to twist things together in an engaging and meaningful way.
Speaking of twists. Y’all. This book was twist central. And, to be fair, I called a handful of them (that midpoint was on my radar since the previous books!), but there were several that I did not see coming. And a few that hit the heart – I was upset about a certain specific character which shall remain unnamed for the sake of spoilers. The choices these characters made. It was almost like trying to wrangle very badly behaved children! I wanted to bop several of them quite a few times.
The allegorical elements were sweet and beautifully done. They were set up from the beginning, so it wasn’t a surprise, but it was still an adventure to watch the characters either grow into those elements – or in some cases, refuse and reject the truth *cue bopping* One of my favorite parts of this world is how Fischer so aptly portrays the brokenness that ruined what was once divinely perfect and the glimmers of the restoration to come. That this world is just a shadow of what will be, of what God intends for us. That’s hard to do. And it was really rewarding to see.
An epic conclusion for a layered fantasy with a cool magic system, characters that tug at your heart and get your blood boiling, and soothing themes that call to your heart. Also, yet another gorgeous cover!
Content: no swearing, fantasy violence, and clean romance. There’s some thematic dark vs. light, good vs. evil that leads to things like betrayal, war, loyalty, miscommunication, poor choices, forgiveness, murder, etc. Probably fine for 14+
More
Book 1 in the Nightingale Trilogy is Calor (5 Stars)
Book 2 is Lumen (5 Stars)
Book 3 is Memoria (5 Stars)
Book 4 is Caligo
This series must be read in order. Caligo is a sequel to the trilogy. You can find more info on Goodreads with the links above.
On GraceBought
Don’t miss my thoughts on the previous books in the series below!
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