Requiem by Lauren E Rico.
This is book 3 in the reverie series.
A brilliant read. Great Story . Still didn't like Jeremy. Hope there is more to come. 5*.

It was ok. I couldn't get into the story so I stopped about 3/4 of the way. I did give it a try.

Hi, sweeties! I’m back to review of the last book of the Reverie Trilogy, “Requiem”. I don’t know what to say, I have read these books in only one week and I’m astonished by the vivid characters and the strong emotions that are still crawling down my skin. This is an epic finale for an epic series of books. Believe me, these books are beautiful and thrilling, so I high recommend them.

PREMISE
I tried again to read in Italian, but things didn’t go very well. I wanted to read in English because this is my “English Moment”, a short period of time in which I read only in one language (‘cause I can read and speak in four languages, Italian excluded). Jeez, I must say that If I didn’t have Netgalley I should’ve wait for so long before starting to read in the foreign languages I know. In Italy books from other countries, written in their languages and not translated into Italian, are difficult to find and If you find them, they cost very much. So, I’m grateful to Netgalley to have given me this opportunity to read and discover these brilliant authors. Not only they’re now my favourite authors, but I suggest them to my friends and relatives.

SYNOPSIS (FROM GOODREADS)
Matthew and Julia Ayers are happy at last, settled in their new home with their son and flourishing musical careers. And with Jeremy Corrigan playing in an orchestra halfway across the country, they finally feel a sense of peace and security.
That is exactly what Jeremy is counting on.

Enraged when he is caught in a compromising situation, he refocuses his energies on the people he holds responsible for his languishing career. Believing that "There is an art to destroying a life," he sets out with cool determination to destroy those who have betrayed him.

No one is safe from his wrath

The eternal struggle between good and evil play out with horrifying consequences in REQUIEM.

REVIEW
“Requiem” had me reading with my jaw dropped all the time. I was astonished. I was horrified. I was even without words. But let’s start from the beginning: I knew that in this book there would have been one death, the title itself said that, actually, “Requiem” might refers to Mozart’s Sonata “Requiem for a Dream” but also it might refer to the abruptly end of one of this book’s characters. So, I was prepared. I was ready to read about what our little bad boy Jeremy would do the people who destroyed his life and his musical career. And it all started when Danny (Jeremy and Brett’s father) died of a heart attack in the garage of the house that he shared with his wife, Trudy. Jeremy watched his father dying without doing anything to help him. Matthew and Julia Ayers are living a happy life, touring with their Quartets and signing a recording contract for her first music album. Although Julia received the silver medal at the Kreisler International Music Competition, only her received that recording contract and not Jeremy, and this drives him crazy. Brett and Maggie are planning their wedding, and Brett is decided to exclude his brother to his big day, conscious that he’ll ruin everything. Jeremy decides to attack when nobody expects and kidnaps Julia. What will do him to her? Will he killer her? Well, in Jeremy’s mind, the only way to punish Matthew to have started the rumor that ruined his career, he decides to beat Julia till she’s almost dead. In this book, we meet a Jeremy even darker than that we have met in “Rhapsody”, his evolution into a totally evil character is underlined by the fact that there’s an ascending climax in the books about him. We see him acquire more and more darkness until there’s no hope for him anymore, there’s no chance that he will redeem himself because he’s dark as the dark that surrounds him. There’s no chance of redemption for Jeremy. He will remain dark as the night until Julia will sacrifice herself while trying to kill him. Julia has become a strong character in the Trilogy, we see her shy and coy at the beginning of “Reverie” and then there’s a gradual evolution in her personality, she acquires more confidence and becomes a new and better person. I loved Julia, she had a difficult past and an even difficult relationship with her mother and her father (who has beaten and abused of her), she’s not withdrawn and coy, but a strong Mama who will do everything she can do to protect her family and her son. Brett is a better person, he’s working with Julia in the Quartet and supports her the best way he can; Maggie’s presence is fundamental here like in “Rhapsody”, because she’s the first to face Jeremy consciously knowing what he is capable to do when threatened. Finally, we get to know a little better Trudy Corrigan, and we discover that the bloodline of craziness (I call it like this, but it isn’t quite so) has its rot in Trudy’s grandfather. Trudy is a firm believer in God and she thinks that the evil (Satan) can be defeated with some help, that’s the way in which her mother let her father dying. What I noticed is that there’s really a bloodline of fathers that treat their families and their kids the wrong way (beating them, abusing them, treating them like slaves) that has its peak in Jeremy, so Jeremy is the summit of this evil bloodline. I hope that David (Jeremy and Julia’s son) won’t become like him.

The final battle between good and evil is set. Who will win? Who will survive? Who will die? You’ll have to read to discover it.

Rarely I read one trilogy in less than one week. This is the first time I do that and I’m overly excited. Lauren has become my new favorite writer and I’ll surely read her next books. The characters are never boring, they are lovable and interesting and I felt bleak when I finished reading this book. I didn’t want this adventure to finish. I feel like I had lost one of my best friends. But this musical adventure ended and I will always remember these characters like one of the best I’ve ever read about, whose adventures kept me up till one and thirty in the morning, whose adventures had me questioning about what they will do next. They will live forever in my heart.

I farewell to you all, dear readers, with this beautiful quote from this marvelous book:
“I used to be painfully shy, hiding in the shadows. I used to be silent, watching as the rest of the world went by. I used to be scared scurrying from place to place, like a tiny mouse, praying not to be seen. I used to be lonely and lost and confused. But I am none of those things anymore, and I haven’t been for some time.”
(Julia James Ayers)

xoxo,
Giada

NOTE: This review can be read both in Italian and English

Requiem is the perfect conclusion to this intense trilogy. Julia and Matthew are finally happy together, raising their baby and living their life together. But, that happiness won't last forever, because Jeremy, sociopath that he is, blames them for his problems and is out for revenge. No one will be safe from his wrath, not Julia, not Matthew, not their baby, not Brett (his brother), not Maggie, and not Trudy (Jeremy and Brett's mom). I can't say too much without giving spoilers, but I will say that I think Requiem is even more gripping than Reverie or Rhapsody. It is the perfect way to end the series.

Thank you, Lauren Rico, for this exciting, gripping series!

Enjoyed the series; Sorry to see it conclude! Cant wait to read more from this author

This book may seem to start out slow, but if you stay with it the chapters will fly by. The characters are somewhat complex and there are a couple of them I really hated. The author easily keeps you enthralled.

It would be hard to exaggerate how much I disliked Requiem. The characters struck me as self-absorbed narcissists. The sex scenes were too graphic for the kind of novel this is. It's an orgy of violence. The author went wild with it. The result is a barely readable mess.
Oh, thanks, NetGalley, for the free review copy.

Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy!! This is the third book of the trilogy and the end is not what you expect! Do Matthew and Julia get their happy ending?? I could not put this down, I cannot say enough good things about this trilogy and Lauren Rico, a new favorite author for me!