Book Review: Fates and Furies by Raye Wagner
1:17:00 PM
Title: Fates and Furies
Author: Raye Wagner
Pages: 375
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: 29 June 2017
From Goodreads: "Hope escaped the Underworld with her life, but her memories are as blank as the Book of the Fates she brought back. Still determined to break the curse, she and Xan take an offering to the Olympian temple to solicit the goddess Artemis for aid. But the petition has disastrous results, and now the gods are hunting her. Athan sacrificed everything for Hope, but she’s leaving him behind to travel with Xan to Mount Olympus. But the closer they get, the more Athan’s mortality becomes a liability. Forced to seek refuge in mists and darkness, Athan tangles with deities that weave the very threads of fate. But these goddesses also wield the immortal blades that lay ruin to destinies. With everyone she loves damaged or destroyed by the blood of Olympus, Hope must face the power of the past to change the fate of the future."
Thank you to Raye Wagner and Lela Grayce for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.
"The end of one adventure is only the beginning of another..."
Fates and Furies is the final book in the Sphinx series by Raye Wagner and what a finale it is! This book is nothing short of fantastic and is sure to please all fans of the series with what I feel is one of the most satisfying series endings I've ever read.
Plot:
Hope may have escaped from the Underworld but her memories are still completely blank- just like the Book of Fates she brought back with her. Still determined the break the curse and with Xan by her side, the two make an offering to Artemis that ends in flames. Now, the gods of Olympus are hunting her. Nowhere and no one is safe, especially newly mortal Athan. With Athan's mortality becoming more of a liability, Hope has to leave him behind in order to travel to Olympus. But hidden in the darkness, Athan meets the goddesses that weave the threads of fate and works to aid Hope however he can. With everything riding on Hope's shoulders, she alone must confront the past in order to save the future.
With this being the final book in the Sphinx series, I knew going into it that there was going to be a lot of closure within these pages. Everything from Hope's love interest, her curse, the corruption of the gods on Olympus, and even the Book of Fates is wrapped up nicely with a beautiful bow. I was almost expecting a cliffhanger or an open ended sentence that leaves the reader guessing, but thankfully, that didn't happen. What we did get is this message: "The end of one adventure is only the beginning of another..." leading me to believe that Raye Wagner isn't done with this world just yet. Hope's story may be finished, but there are always others to be told! There's so much that happens in the pages that make up Fates and Furies, but it's easily the best book in the series. Even with the changes in point of view from Hope to Athan, you still get a very clean, well-flowing story that comes together in an ending that is sure to give you thoughts of happily ever after and all of that happy ending jazz. Seriously, I had tears in my eyes from how fantastic it all was!
Characters:
One thing I wanted to point out in this review is Hope's growth as a character from Cursed by the Gods to Fates and Furies. At first, she's so focused on getting free from her curse so that she's free to love who she wants without fear of them dying due to Apollo's jealously. But she evolves to wanting to be free to choose, and eventually works towards re-balancing the power that the gods and goddesses of Olympus have been abusing for so long. I just really appreciated how her vision grew from only thinking about herself to being concerned with how the gods were basically taking advantage of the humans. It showed a lot of growth in her as a character and it really made me appreciate her a lot more by the end of this book.
In general, the growth of all the characters is something that makes this series such a fantastic read. One of the most enjoyable parts of the series is all of the ups and downs and watching each character approach them in their own way. It's really easy to get attached to Hope, Xan, and Athan and I truly believe that anyone that has read the previous books in the series will be very pleased with not only how these characters have continued to grow but with how their story ends.
Writing:
I will forever praise Raye Wagner for her beautiful writing style. It's incredibly easy to just sit down, dive into the world that she's created and follow these characters that I've fallen so in love with. Her writing is so vivid and the way that she describes places such as Olympus and the Underworld as well as the gods and goddesses is incredibly ethereal. You really get the feeling that these people and places are larger than life and completely different from humans and Earth. This entire series has been such a treat to read and I can definitely say that Raye Wagner is an author that I will insta-read anything she puts out in the future! Fingers crossed for more stories in the Sphinx universe. Cough short story about Nyx and her daughters please cough.
Fates and Furies is beautiful, heartbreaking, exciting, and a wonderful conclusion to the Sphinx series. Raye Wagner has, once again, written an unforgettable book that is sure to stick with readers well after the final page. If you haven't picked up the series yet, Fates and Furies releases on 29 June 2017, so be sure to pick up all four books in the series and give it a try!
With this being the final book in the Sphinx series, I knew going into it that there was going to be a lot of closure within these pages. Everything from Hope's love interest, her curse, the corruption of the gods on Olympus, and even the Book of Fates is wrapped up nicely with a beautiful bow. I was almost expecting a cliffhanger or an open ended sentence that leaves the reader guessing, but thankfully, that didn't happen. What we did get is this message: "The end of one adventure is only the beginning of another..." leading me to believe that Raye Wagner isn't done with this world just yet. Hope's story may be finished, but there are always others to be told! There's so much that happens in the pages that make up Fates and Furies, but it's easily the best book in the series. Even with the changes in point of view from Hope to Athan, you still get a very clean, well-flowing story that comes together in an ending that is sure to give you thoughts of happily ever after and all of that happy ending jazz. Seriously, I had tears in my eyes from how fantastic it all was!
Characters:
One thing I wanted to point out in this review is Hope's growth as a character from Cursed by the Gods to Fates and Furies. At first, she's so focused on getting free from her curse so that she's free to love who she wants without fear of them dying due to Apollo's jealously. But she evolves to wanting to be free to choose, and eventually works towards re-balancing the power that the gods and goddesses of Olympus have been abusing for so long. I just really appreciated how her vision grew from only thinking about herself to being concerned with how the gods were basically taking advantage of the humans. It showed a lot of growth in her as a character and it really made me appreciate her a lot more by the end of this book.
In general, the growth of all the characters is something that makes this series such a fantastic read. One of the most enjoyable parts of the series is all of the ups and downs and watching each character approach them in their own way. It's really easy to get attached to Hope, Xan, and Athan and I truly believe that anyone that has read the previous books in the series will be very pleased with not only how these characters have continued to grow but with how their story ends.
Writing:
I will forever praise Raye Wagner for her beautiful writing style. It's incredibly easy to just sit down, dive into the world that she's created and follow these characters that I've fallen so in love with. Her writing is so vivid and the way that she describes places such as Olympus and the Underworld as well as the gods and goddesses is incredibly ethereal. You really get the feeling that these people and places are larger than life and completely different from humans and Earth. This entire series has been such a treat to read and I can definitely say that Raye Wagner is an author that I will insta-read anything she puts out in the future! Fingers crossed for more stories in the Sphinx universe. Cough short story about Nyx and her daughters please cough.
Fates and Furies is beautiful, heartbreaking, exciting, and a wonderful conclusion to the Sphinx series. Raye Wagner has, once again, written an unforgettable book that is sure to stick with readers well after the final page. If you haven't picked up the series yet, Fates and Furies releases on 29 June 2017, so be sure to pick up all four books in the series and give it a try!
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