Goldfinch

"⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (No spoilers after the events of Gold below) I am at a loss for words right now. It’s no secret that I vehemently opposed the storyline that Glow & Gold followed, and as a result, my anticipation for Goldfinch was mediocre. With that said, I am incredibly moved by the beautiful finale; it reminds me of WHY I fell in love with this series to begin with. My biggest assumption was that Goldfinch would cut corners with the inevitable war & separation of our MCs. That was not the case. There is loss, heartbreak, poetry, & most importantly, so much LOVE within these pages. None of it felt rushed or convenient. The battle scenes are hard to read (in a good way) because the stakes are HIGH. Kennedy’s imagery is outstanding, it’s very easy to fall into the world immersion. My heart breaks for most of our beloved friends - don’t expect any “whew, that was a close one!” moments. I truly thought we’d get another HOFAS with this book (iykyk), & that was not the case. That’s all I’ll say. The first reason why I knocked down a star is because there was a LOT of telling, not showing, throughout this book. It became a bit of an eyesore after some time. Another reason is because while I think Goldfinch was a beautiful end to this story, I firmly stand my ground that the last 3 books could have been planned out better. I truly think a lot could have been cut out of Glow & Gold and exhanged for the upcoming buildup (including character development, world(s) building, and ROMANCE). What we got could have been far more impactful than it was. Lastly & most importantly, there are far too many unanswered questions that I’m not sure we’ll ever get closure on, which really bugs me. The ending is abrupt. Overall, this book brought back to life the beauty of the Plated Prisoner series. Kennedy is still a brilliant author, and I highly recommend the final installment (and the rest of them!) in this series. Now goodbye, I’m gonna continue bawling my eyes out about Chapter 56."