Review: Strange Ever After by Susan Dennard

Title: Strange Ever After
Author: Susan Dennard
Series: Book Three in the Something Strange Trilogy
Published By: HarperTeen (July 22, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Fantasy
My Rating: 4 Stars!

Book Description:
In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.



He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.

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It never easy saying good bye to beloved characters. Over the course of a series they some how become a part of you, ingrained into your very soul. They become dear friends and you worry for them, you fear for them and you love them. No matter how much they may have aggravated you in the past or even hurt you, you still want what is best for them. You still want them to have that happily ever after we all seek in the end and our only hope, our only wish, is for them to get it.

Eleanor, Daniel, Jie, Joseph and even Oliver have become these people to me, these friends that I care so very much for. These characters that I want to be happy, to get their happily ever after.

I have loved Eleanor from the very beginning, what is not to love about a strong heroine set in a time when woman were suppose to be meek and subservient, not feisty and headstrong?  And even though she has taken some steps back in her growth, she ultimately has grown a lot. Has come into her own not only in her powers but in herself as well. In her relationship with others and in her place in her world. 

Dennard managed to create a story so complex and so richly and beautifully detailed that it was hard not to be enthralled by it. Not to soak up all that she gave us and still, with our stomachs bursting, not want more.

There was so much emotion in this story, way more than I had anticipated. Sadness, anger, joy, sorrow, brief moments of happiness. It all came down to this last fight for their lives. This last chance to finally defeat Marcus and make the world right again. It all came down to this.

I knew there would be casualties and I knew there might even be deaths and I just knew this would be a hard read but I don't think I was mentally prepared for the up and downs my emotions would take as I went on this roller coaster of a ride that Dennard had created for me, for us, in this last installment. 

All I can say is...wow. Just wow. It was every bit as magical as the last books and ever bit as frustrating and as heartbreaking. I truly felt sad at times and even teary eyed at others. 

This was a wonderful conclusion to the series if not a sad one. It was an ending full of hopes and dreams and promises and really, that is all that I could have asked for. So maybe not the ending I was expecting or even hoping for, but a good solid one nonetheless. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*