This series had me from its first sentence, and now it's over. (I'm fine.) (I am NOT fine.)

I was thrilled beyond measure to get to read an ARC of Tale of the Heart Queen, the finale in Nisha J. Tuli's stunning Artefacts of Ouranos series. It's steamy romantasy done so well. Thank you to @readforeverpub; this is my honest review.

I knew before starting the book that it was going to be a ride, considering where Fate of the Sun King left off. The first chapter let me know I was right. So much raw emotion -- everything Lor was feeling was *palpable*.

The last hundred pages: wow. Nonstop. The highest stakes possible. All the action, all the emotion ... and yes, there is a perfect amount of spice. This book even features my own personal favorite microtrope: I-S-G-Y-N-D-S.

No pun intended: this book has heart. It gave me everything I wanted as an ending to the series (even though I don't want the series to end; I could happily keep reading about Lor, Nadir and crew forever). If you haven't started the series, you have until November 26 to catch up. Bump it to the top of your TBR and thank me later.

Tale of the Heart Queen has MY heart.

Thank you to Forever Pub for the eARC!

Tale of the Heart Queen picks up right where Fate of the Sun King ended, with Lor dealing with the aftermath of the absolute devastation of her encounter with Rion. Lor sets out to make things right and change the course of her fate but not without unending life threatening challenges and twists to get to her happy ending.

First I will say I love this series and it is one of my favorites. It is because of that I had high hopes for its conclusion. Overall, I am so happy for the characters and how the ending tied together and loved that everyone truly got their happy endings (except Atlas, f him).

Unfortunately, this ending fell flat for me. My main challenge with Tale of the Heart Queen was that the writing felt much different than the first 3 books.

- The first 3 books were fantastic “show don’t tell”, and in this book it felt like the complete opposite at least 80% of the time.

Lor and Nadir’s romance became more about their inner monologue repeatedly confessing their undying love for one another (which is great and so happy to finally get that!!!), but in the last 2 books I felt there was such a better job of proving that love through l their actions vs this book it felt like the only point proving it was saying it.

For me, their romance and dialogue became cheesy and corny and it just diminished their “badass-ness” from the previous books. I get that they had growth and are more vulnerable now, but my experience was that they became corny to the point that they were almost entirely different characters.

- Some plot points/twists truly didn’t make sense to me, or felt like they were missing context. I just felt confused during some parts of the book which made it less enjoyable.

I was also realllllly disappointed that so little time was spent on Lor’s magic and figuring it out when SOO much of book 3 focused on it. It was barely explored, and I still don’t have a grasp on how it works, only that it does. And I guess by the last 10ish(?) chapters she she has control over it, but not really because she did anything to master it…it just happens because she’s bonded, i think?

- finally, so many pieces were wrapped up quickly or unnecessarily. When it was wrapped up quickly I found myself internally screaming “noooo!!” begging for more. The other parts that were wrapped up unnecessarily were random minor subplots and side characters that were sporadically mentioned purely to tie a bow on something that didn’t need it.

While Tale of the Heart Queen wasn’t everything I had hoped, the series overall is fantastic and have characters, magic, and a world I’ll forever love!

Perfection. Just perfection. This final book in The Artefacts of Ouranos was perfect. I think everyone will be very happy to read this books, especially if you’re a fan of the series. The books starts up where it left off in Fate of the Sun King and we finally see if Lor is alone now. When Lor makes a deal with Zerra, I just kept thinking how Lor tries super hard, barely wins and still stands uo for her family and friends. She has always been a solid FMC in all aspects.

This book is a multiple POV. We of course have Nadir’s POV as we always had, then Gabriel who was an addition in Book 3 and now we get Rion’s POV. Now, I usually don’t mind a redemption Arc for the villain and for this one, I really thought it wasn’t possible. But wow was it written so well that it was possible. We finally learn the Aurora’s King motivations, his endgame and his background story. And it finally made sense. It was always something that I would think about when reading books 1-3 but never gave it much importance. But well it was a big deal at the end.

Have to bring up that there are several plots going on at the same time, which is natural to multiple POVs. Here, it made it wholesome since it felt action-packed and with small plot twist here and there. It will just have you reading nonstop because it feels exhilarating and tense the whole time. It does get complicated and in a point it felt like Lor and company will not make it but they will keep on surprising you.

The ending was beautiful and to not spoil anything that is all I will say about the ending

It’s always so hard to say goodbye

This series has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions.
This book was no different.
I’m just floored by how much was able to be fit into each page, and how well Nisha pulled every piece of information together to bring us to this climatic ending.
I feel absolutely fulfilled by the decisions made to bring us to this happily ever after. (Which I had to remind myself several times that it was coming) It’s always so horrible to say goodbye to those you’ve been following for book after book but this ending had me comforted.
I can’t go to deep into details as this book has literally just been given to me and I don’t want to give any spoiler information, but I’m so happy with the conclusion of this story. The action, heart ache, passion, love, trials, and magic are spread throughout these pages so well. It was an enchanting experience.

I love Nadir and Lors romance, and they truly are a couple who would destroy worlds for the other. That kind of love sings to me on such a deep level. Reading as they grew into unbreakable unit was an absolute lovely experience.

Thank you so much @readforeverpub and @nishajwrites for the opportunity to read and review this work.

This was the ending everyone deserved. Prepare to have your heart ripped out (again) and pieced back together. There is astonishing growth in some characters while others are stuck in their outright failure/refusal to grow.

The book is fast-paced but so very long. There’s really no lulls, which is great because I was just itching to figure out how it all ends. Thankfully Tuli tied it all up with a neat little bow.

Spoiler, so beware before you read anymore:
My only complaint is that I wish there could have been more between Gabriel and Hylene in the end. They spent a lot of time together and end up moving away with each other is literally all we get after all the build up and tension.

This world. The magic. These characters! Tuli wasn't kidding when she said we'd get a HEA, but she'd put us through it! I have devoured this series, and love how this wrapped up. I can't believe it's over...

What a journey this series has been! I’ll admit that while I was beyond excited to receive this arc, it was also bittersweet to come to the end of this epic story.

Fate of the Sun King leaves us on a painful cliffhanger and Tale of the Heart Queen picks up exactly where we left off. Lor is immediately thrown into action and yet another conflict is forced upon her as she tries to fix some mistakes and thwart some serious evil forces.

The action is non stop in this one and the plot gets pretty complex as all the layers of this story begin to fall into place and we finally get some key pieces of history through a new pov - and even a redemption arc that I truly never saw coming. Poor Lor really goes through it and all hope seems lost (more than once 😅) but fear not, she’s the f*cking Heart Queen and she was born for this. But that being said, the journey is quite the emotional one so have the tissues ready.

By the end I couldn’t help but be so proud of Lor and just how far she had come from the beginning of Trial of the Sun Queen. And I loved all the nods to moments from earlier books - it really just tied everything together in such a satisfying way. These characters will be surely be missed!

The biggest thank you to Nisha J. Tuli and Forever Publishing for this ARC - best surprise ever!

YESSS. THANK YOU!! I am so excited to meet Nisha at ApollyCon 2025. Having this final book makes me so happy! Such a great series all together. Sad to see it come to an end. The covers are stunningggg.

Thank you Net Galley, Nisha J Tuli, and Forever Publishing for the ARC!

Let me start by saying: I absolutely loved this series and I am so sad to see it ending here. The adventure Nisha took us on was full of action and love and I adored the characters from this series so much!

With that being said, this finale in the series fell a little bit flat for me. It felt almost as if there were a check list of plot points needing to be resolved, and everything was perfectly & neatly checked off after each chapter. While I obviously don’t want plot holes, it just felt a little bit clinical in the way it was written. I also realize finales are insanely difficult to write and finding the balance between resolving plot points while still being engaging and blending the storylines is immensely difficult.

I still liked the book overall and would absolutely recommend the series, but this one was my least favorite in the series.

—-SPOILERS BELOW—-

I actually wish we would’ve gotten a little bit more of Herric’s villain story and his battle with Zerra! He was such an interesting villain to have been brought in at the very end.

Last thing… of course we want a happy ending to such an adventure filled book, but every resolution being wrapped up in such a perfect way felt like it didn’t match the intensity of the other books. I’m not sure how to feel about that, but it just didn’t fit the same vibe of the series to me.

I really liked this series and I wanted to love this book but I spent way too much time eye-rolling the fact that after a whole series the main character is still a reactive emotional hot mess. You know those character's that you just want to scream at for consistently making silly decisions... ?

That's our main girl Lor - and somehow everything still works out even though she never takes a calm moment in the entire book.

If you loved the TOG series - and you love Aelin's cool confidence.. you'll get what I mean. Other than that - this continues to be one of my favorite series because of it's darker themes and the world building. I do wish this had had a stronger finish - but overall I think it would be a good new adult series.

**Def not young adult.

**Thank you to Forever & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

Well this is the last book of the quartet and boy was there a lot of action.
I really love the richness that the author puts into her worlds and the characters. Each is so complex yet relatable.
Who among us wouldn't fight for love?
Nadir and Lor are perfect complements to each other's imperfections. Together they are strong enough to defy the gods themselves.
I love this series and sincerely hope we get a few spin offs with some of the characters I wish we had more of.
Perfect end to Lor and Nadirs stories!
Thank you to Net Galley, Nisha J Tuli and Forever for entrusting me with an ARC. These thoughts are all my own.

Received as an ARC

What a conclusion! In true Nisha fashion, she puts everyone *through it* for most of the book. Somehow more problems keep popping up, but they're not far fetched or unrealistic as far as the storyline goes. People get redemption, people get what they deserve, and we finally get the ending we were promised. I loved all the little callbacks to the earlier books, and the ending really wrapped up nicely while keeping me guessing how one particular problem was going to solve itself.

Overall a fantastic ending to the series and I'll absolutely miss these characters.

How can this be over?

The way that Nadir loves Lor is fierce, forever, and freeing, and she loves him beyond life and death, whatever comes.

This book follows immediately on from the last, with Nadir's life hanging between realms, and Lor tied into a bargain she abhors to keep herself and her loved ones safe. Secrets come to light, and the world may never be the same again.

I have adored every book in this series, devoured every single page, and spent many many hours immersing myself deep into the characters of this wonderful romantasy series. Please, please, please, Netflix. You know what you need to do.

Roll on further books from Nisha J. Tuli.

What an amazing end to the series! It was a rollercoaster of emotion from the very first page! I love Lor and the growth she exhibits throughout the entire series but especially in this final book. Nadir is the epitome of book boyfriends. Every question that has been unanswered gets answered in this final installment with everything wrapped up beautifully. I will say I was worried for our Main characters and the motley crew that tag along with them many times during this book, but the ending was well worth the ride. Thank you Netgalley, @readforeverpub for this ARC.

Thank you to @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts!

This was such a tantalizing end to a very good series! I was hooked from the moment I opened the book to the very end. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about how long it would take for me to be able to pick the book back up.

This book is slightly spicier than its predecessors and the relationship between Lor and Nadir heats up!! In more ways than one. Watching all their struggles to be together through the series come to a peak was so satisfying. They are a cute couple and I was rooting for them the entire time!

This book offers a different POV than we have been given in the past and while at first I was reluctant to read those chapters, as you get further into the book and deeper into the characters mind, you realize just how lost they truly are. It’s not a redemption by any means, but an understanding.

I thought the pace of this book was quicker than the previous. It felt like the filler moments were missing and while it did have occasional slower and softer chapters, they flowed really well and offered us, and our characters, a well needed break.

Watching our author weave those final loose threads into their bows was satisfying. She did well at answering questions, motivations, and putting our characters where the needed to be, even if it’s not where we might have wanted them.

I’m sad this series is over, but pleased with how it turned out!

I am so so so beyond lucky and grateful to have received this arc. What a perfect (albeit wild) ending to this series. I fricking love Nadir and Lor - and thankfully we were promised a HEA at the beginning because the roller coaster of motions this book took me through is insane.

The much anticipated conclusion to the Trials of the Sun Queen series. Let me just say that the ending of this book was very entertaining. I highly enjoyed the confrontation scenes with Herratic. I will say I the start of the book was extremely slow, and it took me awhile to get invested in the story again. The Gabriel POVs were my favorite, and I wish he would have been more involved with helping Lor. I am not totally satisfied with the ending of the story. I wasn't really happy with the decision regarding Rion. Also, with the ARKs being destroyed, I am confused about Herratic. In the book it states that he wanted the arks to be destroyed so he could escape, but why didn't he end up escaping? Overall the series was pretty good, and I am glad I decided to read it.

An epic end to the Artefacts of Ouranos!

What a fabulous read! I am actually quite sad that this is the end of one of my fav romantasy series.

But, when my (shiny!) paperback of this book arrived, I get to re-read and I am so excited for that! Because, at times I did notice a lot of information I needed to process quickly and things got a bit chaotic for me. So to quote Nadir from chapter 37: “this is getting more and more complicated by the moment”.
Thankfully things picked up speed soon and whoa what an ending! All very satisfying.

The way the later chapters mirrored (pun intended) the trials in book 1 were great and I enjoyed seeing more of Lor and Nadir’s team work.
I did raise my eyebrows at their ahem team work in chapter 29 and Lor and Nadir immediately going at it while starving, cold, wounded, wet from the literal thunderstorm, and barely having survived, but to each their own I guess, ha.

As I do not want to give any spoilers and as the story is honestly too epic to go into in a review, I just want to focus on the small moments- they really made this book and this series for me. For instance Gabriel feigning ignorance about Tristan’s name multiple times had me laughing often. And the way the love between siblings was portrayed warmed my heart.

A solid 4 stars.

Thank you to Nisha, Dana at Forever, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC so early!

I received an ARC of this book and these are my own opinions.

A perfect ending to this series! There's always such high standards on the final book in a series and this book absolutely nails the ending. From start to finish, this book delivers a fast paced conclusion that had me not able to read fast enough to find out what happened. There's a new POV in the book that was a fantastic addition to the book and added so much critical information that I've been wondering about since book one. As soon as I finished, I wanted to restart the series and binge all four books :)

We truly went from "that bitch took my soap" to "I. Am. The. Fucking. Heart Queen" and I am not sure I could love the journey in between anymore than I already do!

Nisha is so masterful in her writing! The struggles, the angst, dilemma deliberation, and more that each and every character (even the ones we didn't get a POV for) felt authentic and relatable that it wasn't hard to find yourself so captivated page after page after page.

I cannot think of a way to write this review and give the book justice without giving spoilers away, so I will keep this very generalized than I usually do.

This was the perfect ending to a beautiful series! Nisha was able to end this series in a way that did not feel rushed, forced, or full of sunshine and rainbows with a bow on top. Nisha stayed true to the story and her characters from page one until the acknowledgements. She kept us on the journey, on the edge of our seats while biting our nails the entire time, and she did so in a way that once I got to the end I wasn't left with unanswered questions and demanding more because I was disappointed. I was left wanting more because I am not ready to leave these characters behind. I was left wanting more because although I know that the characters all ended up in places they were meant to be, I was still hoping for a glimpse of a line that made me feel that there was more coming. There wasn't and I am okay with that. These characters deserve the stories to be finished and live their lives, because good gracious did Nisha keep them moving.

I loved this series from the very first line (even forced SEVERAL friends to read it for the first line alone), and I cannot wait to dive into more worlds with Nisha in the future!