An epic conclusion to the Bone Shard Trilogy!

Audiobook specific feedback: I really enjoyed the performances from the 3 different narrators. It was great that there was a distinct voice for each POV (Nisong, Lin and Jovis). They are the same narrators from the previous book so it was seamless. I think they did a great job at conveying emotions and inflections of the characters.

Story: This book is the longest of the trilogy and took a while to really take off. The moving pieces ended up working and coming together well at the end. I loved that the author answers questions to the big mysteries so we get some closure on the world and lore. Some of the actions of the characters were frustrating to me because I kept thinking of the logic and clever solutions that the characters could use to clear up confusion.

Characters: I liked that the characters had depth but felt there wasn't a lot of growth in Lin. There was somewhat of a character arc for Jovis and especially for Nisong. The character of Ragan was interesting as a villain and I enjoyed the depth of Deon. I wish there was more info about the ancient Alanga though.

In all I liked this trilogy and thing the last book gives the series a solid finish.

I was eagerly anticipating this one and it just did not live up to that. I loved the first two books but this one had me scratching my head from the beginning. It picked up the story in a place that didn't really make sense and just rambled and was generally confusing. It felt like it had lost all the momentum that Andrea Steward had built in the first two novels. I tried and tried to get into it but eventually gave it up.

I didn't really enjoy the narration either. It was all right, but not my favorite. The characters did have unique voices.

*Thanks to Orbit for providing an early copy for review.

4/5 stars.

I'm so glad I finished this series. Andrea Stewart created a fantasy series with unique characters each with their own flaws and weaknesses. Lin, slow to trust anyone including herself. Jovis, a smuggler, a liar and a hero. Phalue, initially unwilling to challenge her beliefs grew into the partner that Ranami needed. Ranami, the new leader that the Empire needs. There are so many other fantastic supporting characters as well, and certainly not least of which includes Thrana and Mephi. I loved how the intrigue and mystery surrounding the Alanga and their companions was unwound slowly as Lin discovered more and more. There was never a massive info dump where we knew everything all of sudden.

If you're on the hunt for a completed trilogy with multiple magic systems, unique companion creatures, and characters that make mistakes and learn from them then I highly recommend the Drowning Empire.

The audiobook was incredible, fantastic group of narrators for the characters. Natalie Naudus and Emily Woo Zeller are two of my favorite narrators and they really brought these characters to life. I'd highly recommend the audiobooks for the entire series.

I found this third book an appropriate and entertaining read following the other two books, The work from the narrators was incredibly clear and entertaining, helping me escape my surroundings during my university commute. Anyone that likes fantasy should definitely read!

Great conclusion to the series! I loved listening to the audiobook and plan to read whatever the author publishes next!

I dragged my feet on providing feedback because I had set this book aside but finally came back to it and listened through. This series opened brilliantly but should have been a standalone. I didn’t really buy into the character arcs, and it felt like characters were doing things for the sake of the plot. Good guys becoming bad guys and bad guys becoming good guys, everyone fighting and switching sides in the final battle, and the saccharine let’s-try-again-anyway ending… it all left me cold. This author is incredibly creative but made many many choices in writing this book (and the second, as well) that I didn’t love.

I think the thing I enjoyed most from this book is the title. The writing kept me bored. It wasn’t easy to fall into.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

I’m going to open this by saying that I love fantasy. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. Can’t get enough of it. Read it literally all the time. When I saw the third book in this series as an arc I thought “I haven’t started this but I hear good things about the series so what’s the harm asking for a copy it’ll give me a reason for reading the series”. This was a mistake. A gigantic mistake.

I read the first book. I hated it and gave it one star.

I read the second book. I hated it less and gave it two stars.

I’ve been staring the third book in the face for the past four months and I’ve decided I just can’t do this to myself anymore.

I hate the characters. I hate the world-building. I hate the writing. I hate the overall tone of the story. I hate the dialogue. I hate how repetitive the books are. I feel like the author thinks her audience is full of idiots and if she doesn’t remind them of things every five pages they’re going to forget everything about the book. I hate how insufferably long the books are. There is no reason for each of these to be such door stops. I swear each of these would be a good 100-200 pages shorter if all the repetition was taken out. In short I hate each and every single things about this series.

This all came to a head when I was complaining to a good friend of mine how much I hated that I had asked for a review copy of this because I hated the series so much and didn’t want to read it. He asked me if I was getting paid for this. I said no. He asked me why I was doing this to myself then. I completely agree with them.

I’ve seen reviews of this. I know that even fans of the series don’t like this book. Considering how passionately I hate the first two books in this series I know now I’m never going to read this. I may look up spoilers to see what happens. I kind of really don’t care though. I doubt I’m even going to read this author again. I wish I could use a time machine to go back and prevent me from starting these.

-10000000/10 do not recommend.

I have been eagerly anticipating the conclusion to this story from the moment I finished reading The Bone Shard Daughter.

I enjoyed every page of it, the bits of humour, the magic, the heartbreak and drama and embraced the odd tear I shed in the reading of it.

There's not much I can say without making a lot of huge spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the other two books but it was truly a great ending to this story.

2⭐️

As someone who eagerly anticipated this book, I must admit I was left disappointed. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy, I had high hopes for the conclusion.

However, this third installment fell short of my expectations. The plot felt lacking, and the characters seemed to lose some of their depth. Instead of building upon the rich world and engaging storylines established in the earlier books, this one felt like a letdown. It took me a year to figure out how to actually rate this book because it pains me to give it two stars.

Sadly, after finishing this book I was left only with a reading slump and depression!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely loved the Bone Shard Daughter and couldn't wait to continue the series, but it seems as though the first book is best treated as a standalone. The second and third books have only been increasing letdowns. I still feel fond of this series because I enjoyed the first book so much, and I am very interested in the author's next epic fantasy series, which has already been announced.

Thank you Hachette Audio for providing me with a complementary audiobook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Drowning Empire Trilogy is a fantasy series that MUST be consumed via audiobook! Natalie Naudus, Emily Woo Zeller, and Feodor Chin are all incredibly talented narrators and they really brought the Drowning Empire to life! Their performances add so much to this already rich world with amazing characters.

Andrea Stewart is officially an auto-buy author for me. As hard as it was to say goodbye to this world and these characters (I’m looking at you Mephi), I can’t wait to see what Andrea writes next. I will be first in line!

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I was terrified of this book when I started it. This series has been brutal up until now, and the ending of The Bone Shard Emperor did not leave me incredibly hopeful. And honestly, in a way, I was right to be scared! This book was full of a lot of pain and hard decisions and heartbreaking scenes.

The empire was truly crumbling throughout this book, despite Lin’s best efforts to keep it together. It was honestly tough to watch, as the inside perspective through Lin’s narration often made me more sympathetic to her goals and her desire to see the Empire flourish and survive, despite it becoming clearer and clearer that it was near impossible. I honestly really enjoyed how much we got to see all sides of the conflict, and it made this series really interesting to read just on a political level.

While at points this book dragged on a bit and felt a bit slow compared to the other books in the series, I did still enjoy it overall. It was tough to read (or listen to) at times, especially seeing how much pain many of the characters were in, and how in turn they often hurt other characters because of it. One thing I did miss a bit in this final installment was the further exploration of the world and its secrets. We did still have a few final reveals, but it did feel like this final book was mainly focused on exploring the ramifications of everything that had happened in the first two books and wrapping up all the plot threads. It did make for a satisfying and complete conclusion, but it made certain sections of the book a bit less thrilling or exciting.

Lastly, I have to commend the narrators of this trilogy. Natalie Naudus, Feodor CHin, and Emily Woo Zeller were fantastic at bringing this series to life, and a big reason I love this series as much as I do. They brought so much emotion and life and vibrancy to their respective characters, and really made each character stand out. They felt like real people to me, thanks to the fantastic blend that these narrators and Stewart’s writing made.

Overall, while the first book does solidly remain my favorite of the series, I found that The Bone Shard War was a solid conclusion to a trilogy full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed this series overall, and can’t wait to see what Andrea Stewart writes next!

This review will go live on my blog on February 8th.

This unfortunately was not my cup of tea. I really, really loved the bone shard daughter and I was excited to continue the series but this book was too long and not engaging enough for me to keep up with the audiobook. I think this will be a great book for another reader, but it wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed the magic system in this series. It was original but a tiny bit gruesome. I was intrigued with where this was heading and was hoping for an explosive ending.

This book begins two years after the second book ended. For me, it was a jarring time jump with little explanation. The main characters were separated and because of this, the storyline jumped around. I felt like the start of the book wasn’t cohesive. I struggled through quite a bit of the book, but was glad to see it improved over the last 30%.

I ended up caring the most about Mephi. He continued to be my favorite character throughout the entire series.

An excellent conclusion to the Drowning Empire series. The mystery that was built up throughout the story was brilliantly resolved, and every character had a satisfying ending despite some bittersweet moments. The way the different narrators were woven together was particularly impressive, making each character unique and three-dimensional.

Excellent audiobook. Each narrator was terrific, and having different ones helped me to distinguish which character I was following.

Wow wow wow! What an amazing ending to this trilogy. I will be thinking about this one for a long time. Lin is one of my favorite characters that I’ve read in a long time.

Thank you, NetGalley, publishers, and Andrea Stewart for gifting me a copy of The Bone Shard War in return for my honest opinion.

3/5 stars

I will admit, I saw the cover and clicked without reading whether or not this was part of a series. It happens to be the last book in a 3 book series so to say I was confused would be an understatement. I ended up not finishing listening to the book due to my confusion. The characters seemed well thought out, and the writing was great, I also enjoyed the narrator. Which is why I didn't give it my usual 1/1.5 for a DNF, but since it was my fault for the confusion I wasn't going to fault the book for that.

If I didn't have so many books to read I would look into this series but at this point, I don't think that will happen. But if I do I will come back and update my review.

I realized this was not book 1 but 3 so I'm currently reading book 1 in order to get this one. I'm loving book one so ill definitely love this whole series and I cannot wait to get to this last installment.