User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I won this kindle e-book in a Goodreads giveaway; many thanks to GR, Amazon Kindle, the publisher and the author for this opportunity. I found this third and final book in the trilogy to be the best of the three. The pace was fast and the ends tied up pretty quickly but overall a pretty satisfying read. I wished for a bit more fiery feistiness and less gullibility from the heroine throughout the series but the age and innocence of Sandis is probably the explanation for the lack of that. Still the action and the resolution of some previously unanswered questions in the series contributed to a satisfying conclusion.
Rating: really liked it
[I would have enjoyed being in Rone's POV when he learned his father was a vessel for the Celestial (the hypocrisy!) and had sacrificed his life for everyone. Seeing his tears from Sandis' POV just wasn't enou
Rating: really liked it
Thank you so much to 47North and NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own! I was honestly SO excited for this book, I was screaming at the end of Myths and Mortals and am thoroughly excited and honored to read this ahead of it's publication date!
I will omit the description due to spoilers for the first two books!
This is such an amazing conclusion to the Numina trilogy. Holmberg brought in a lot more lore in this book and finally explained the origin of the Numen. It is a sad and little bit heartbreaking story, but the sea (of) people at the end of the book made me so happy and we finally got to meet Ireth.
Rone and Ireth carried this book for me, along with the rest of the numen. Most of the action centered around these two and they made a great team in the ethereal plane. Bastien was another great character with his well of courage and terrible dad jokes. Bastien surprised me at the end, the vessels were being set up to become slaves all over again and he risked it in order to feel useful somewhere. My only loose end is wondering how he made out in the end!
The other thing I love is the Angelic's role, his sacrifices, and all of the lore surrounding his role that was explained. I think that whole scene was the first time I teared up while reading this. The Celestial and Kolosos have a great story too. The whole book is a great story, have I mentioned that I love all the lore yet?
The book IS full of lore but is also fully action packed , I think I blew through it in a 36 hour time period and will definitely be re reading the series at some point when I can afford to take it slower.
Thank you again to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy!
(It is too early to post the blog link but I will post the link here about 2 weeks prior to publication!)
Rating: really liked it
This is the 2nd series I have finished by this writer and I am very impressed. Each series was very distinct in it's world building and magic system. Nice plots and character and lots of good action made this trilogy a great read. I plan to try some of the writer's stand alone books. If you are looking for a new writer to get into I don't think you will go wrog with Ms Holmberg.
Rating: really liked it
A fitting end to an entertaining series. Really this series is one continuous story and I did find I’d got a bit bored with the whole thing by the end. Nevertheless , a worthwhile read overall.
Rating: really liked it
An adrenaline fueled sprint to an epic conclusion of a stunning trilogy. Well written at an excellent pace, Charlie Holmberg brings it home in this third and final book of her Numina trilogy. I am reinvigorated in my belief, there are actual writers who allow a story to flow and evolve as the writer develops it. Well met Charlie Holmberg, well met.
Rating: really liked it
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for honest review.This is a beautiful trilogy.
Sandis is a vessel who can summon magical numens into her own body. (Numens are magical demon-like figures from the ethereal plane, but you learn a lot more about them in this book.) She has escaped her abusive captor, and has spent a lot of time trying to find her family and figure out what to do next. In this third book, a terrifying and destructive numen Kolosos has been set on the city, and she has to figure out a way to save herself and her friends. All of my favorites were in danger, and I moved all of my plans until I finished this book.
The magic system in this world feels fresh and different, and Charlie Holmberg does a great job building a rich, believable universe. It was elegant and simply done. I love the connection to the deeper lore / societal history, I loved the feeling that I was discovering more about Dresberg as the characters did.
I got attached to the characters almost immediately. Sandis is a sweet, pure soul, and completely strong beyond her years. She's sometimes frustratingly naive but in a way that only makes her more endearing. Rone is complicated and wonderful, and a teen heart throb if I ever saw one. I will most likely ship them forever.
The relationships in this book are wonderful- not only is there an absolutely sweet romantic relationship to root for, but there are many other important emotional nonromantic relationships that give the characters great depth. The question keeps coming up - what wouldn't you do for your family? And many of the characters have to keep going through that internal struggle. Side note: I absolutely love the relationship between Ireth and Sandis, it's so sweet and unusual. I love that in the depths of this character's trauma, she finds something beautiful on the other side.
There was a great balance between lovely, sun-speckled moments and moments where I was absolutely terrified for the characters I had grown so attached to.
My only complaint - I felt like it moved too quickly at times. There is so much potential to this world and these characters, and it felt like a lot of the plot points moved at breakneck speed. This third book could have easily been two books on its own, if not more.
TLDR:
This is a great book, world, set of characters, and series. It's a quick read that you will definitely enjoy.
Rating: really liked it
Thank you to 47North and NetGalley for the eARC copy of this book, provided for my honest review. I absolutely
devoured this trilogy. Now, I'd done the same with
The Paper Magician trilogy and
The Plastic Magician as well, and I find I just adore Charlie Holmberg's way of writing and story telling. The
Numina trilogy was no disappointment.
The lore of this trilogy is just amazing, and you get so much of it in this third volume. Just about any question you might have raised from the first two volumes is answered in this third one. The only question I still have is what becomes of Bastien after everything - I suppose he does what he says he's going to, at least I can hope that's the case.
I read through this volume in about 4.5 hours (I am a speed reader, I read the second book in the trilogy on the same day in about the same amount of time), and, honestly, I can't complain about the story in the slightest. Having a background in writing and literature with training on how to predict the way stories will go and turns that they might take had me guessing some of the outcomes early, I still wasn't disappointed in the routes taken with story telling. Everything flows naturally together and I wasn't left wanting for anything at the end. Sometimes, even good stories leave you longing for more, but I have to say the end of this trilogy was very satisfying indeed. Everything gets sorted fairly neat and tidy-like.
An absolutely stunning conclusion to the trilogy, and I'm sure that fans of the first two books will not be disappointed at all by the conclusion presented in the third book. Every character played an important part, whether for good or for ill. The sacrifices and decisions made by the characters has
weight to it, and those decisions are important for those characters. Holmberg's writing, as usual, has wonderful character development.
Through it all, you
feel the weight of the decisions made, the sacrifices that each character makes throughout the telling of their stories. For me, however, one of the things that had me turning page after page was the sheer amount of lore present in these books. I'm an avid fan of Comparative Religion and Religious theory, and stories like this just pique my interest with the mirroring of real-world religions. I could find a good few parallels to real-world religions, and the similarities fascinate me.
Don't get me wrong, this is by no means a story that is trying to tell you to be religious, Holmberg isn't trying to push off a set of novels in a way that forces you to believe in some sort of God. Religion is merely a means of transportation for this tale, and it is an important vessel for the telling of it. The Numina are akin to Angels and Demons, with a God-figure and a God-Antithesis figure (I don't want to call him the Devil, though he certainly fills the role well enough). The war between the two has been raging for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and it all culminates to this one snippet in time that these novels present for our reading pleasure.
Throughout the trilogy the characters both rely and question their faith, or the faith of others in the face of the dangers and trials they're presented with. In the end, it isn't their God, the Angels, the Demons, or the Devil who wins the day, but the people who sacrifice and try for the sake of their world and their loved ones. Even without the religious notes of the story, I think the trilogy provides a good and sound message: Don't rely on faith. It can only carry you so far, you have to do the rest for yourself.
Aside from that, the characters are quite loveable. Bastien with his dad-jokes, Rist with his prickly nature, Roan is essentially Flynn Rider from Tangled (and I love it), and Sandis is... she's wonderful. Each of the main characters brings something to the story that the other characters may have been lacking, and the tale is that much stronger for it.
Overall, if you enjoy action, adventure, romance, magic, and a touch of religion... well, the Numina Trilogy has just what you want. Beautifully written, and absolutely enthralling. I enjoyed every minute of my wander through the world with Roan and Sandis as my guides - even when I was crying (I'm not crying, you're crying).
Rating: really liked it
Book – Siege and Sacrifice
Author – Charlie N. Holmberg
Series – Numina Trilogy #3
Publication Date – September 17, 2019
Genre – Fantasy
Rating – 5 out of 5 Stars
Complimentary copy generously provided by the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.My Thoughts - Story I started out with a 4.5 Star rating but the more and more I thought about this whole trilogy and especially the ending of such a fantastical story….I had to bump up my rating to a PERFECT 5.
I devoured these books and was completely engrossed with the story of Sandis and the numen. The characters in this series are ones that will stay with me for such a long time and live in a special place in my heart.
And what was the best part of this book? We finally get a voice to Ireth and when everything all comes together…it gave my goosebumps…and still does when I think about it.
This is a series I would recommend and speak about to anyone who would give me the time or day…there are a few authors that I tell anyone who is an avid reader to try out…and after this series, Ms. Holmberg has made that list!
Reason for Reading – NetGalley choice and I love this author
Story – 5 out of 5 Stars
Steam – 5 out of 5 Stars
Angst – 5 out of 5 Stars
Writing – 5 out of 5 Stars
Content Flow – 5 out of 5 Stars
Would Read More from Author? Definitely
Recommend To – Fantasy lovers
Rating: really liked it
What can I say? I have a soft spot for Charlie Holmberg's books.
Rating: really liked it
The lack of character development in this is absurd. I think the main character cried a span of 50 times throughout the book and while that's not necessarily a bad thing the female lead went from being scared and feeble in the first book to being still a scared and feeble character who needs a man to make her feel better. Cliche, annoying, and utterly disappointing. The second book of this series was the same, no character development from the first book so I was expecting to be a great change in the last book of the series. But there wasn't. It was bland. Also the author honestly just threw different plot lines and "twists" cause it definitely seemed that she had no idea what she was doing. The writing was bland and so dead and boring and the characters were just wrung out dry of everything they had in the first two books. *spoiler alert* at the end of it the author who could have made the numens a more complex and interesting creature went with with a plot line that's basically like attack on titan where the numens are like the titans. The potential this had, man.
Rating: really liked it
Very good series. Different and better than her other works!
I lost myself a little bit in the middle as it was packed with action and there were a lot of “new” characters running around.
SPOILER: I was expecting the Angelic being more than he said he was. I wish we were able to see the scene from Rone pov instead of Sandis.
I really liked how all we learnt in the first 2 books that we just took for granted (being a different world and all) was explained and made complete sense in the third one.
Rating: really liked it
I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
A satisfying and exciting end to the Numina trilogy. Holmberg expands her world-building for the epic conclusion and adds more history to the rich world she's created. Rone and Sandis are both pushed past the breaking point and will have to decide how much they are willing to sacrifice to save their city from Kolosos. Rone will have to reconcile his feelings about his father, the angelic. Sandis will have to fight her own brother who is being used as a vessel. Shocking twists, terrible secrets, and forbidden magic make this final book impossible to put down.
Rating: really liked it
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for a conplimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the third in the trilogy and it is epic. It picks up right where the second one left off, with them forced to confront Kolosos, summoned through Sandis' brother Anon.
I'm continually intrigued by this world Holmberg has set up and magical and religeous aspects that have kept shifting. I love that the characters are continuing to learn and figure things out, even as the people in power don't believe them and are trying to use them for their own agendas.
I love Sandis and Rone together, and found the way they were separated was very smart, which also led them to attacking the problem from different fronts. The Numen and the ethereal plane was also an interesting, new aspect to explore.
This was a great end to the series and everything I wanted it to be.
Rating: really liked it
What a wonderful end to a very fun series. I thought I knew how this book would end, but I was delighted that the book surprised me (in a really great way). After finishing this book I now understand why the three books weren’t just cut down and combined into one book. The three books work so well together.
Bastien’s wit and loyalty won me over—he’s one of my favorite supporting characters and has the best puns! I don’t want to give anything away, but I liked how each person’s story came together—Sandis, Rone, Rist, and the whole lot of them really.
I’d definitely recommend the series—a very fun read.
