As expected, Rachel Rener delivers a spectacular finale. I blazed through this book. I don't think I've read 380 pages this fast since my teens and the release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm even surprised that structural choices that would usually make me put a book down and that have, in the past, led me to DNF a book, did not bother me in the slightest with Synced.
I love the character development. Talia has truly come into her own by this book and I absolutely love how she trusts her intuition. Some of the twists that lead to were beyond brilliant and really made me fall even more in love with this character. In just the space of two weeks from the start of the series, this character has gone from what some other readers have classed as TSTL (too stupid to live) and transformed into a capable, though still self-deprecating, individual who I could totally root for. I like how she's still a bit of a klutz. I love how Talia is still stubborn and does things her own way, although she's become a bit more cautious and at least thinks a little before she races headlong into danger. She's had a pretty incredible character arc.
If I thought the familiars were good in the previous books, they took on a whole new life in this one and I absolutely loved every minute spent with Biscuit and Mavros, not to mention all the surprises we get from them and their incredible abilities.
I know I've said it before, but it needs reiteration. DeeDee totally steals the show. Even more so in this final book in the series. She is without a doubt my favourite mother character in a fantasy series. There were several scenes that made me laugh out loud, and I'm particularly grateful to the author for the addition in the Epilogue, which had me howling with laughter. DeeDee's telephone calls are epic. Truly superb.
Somehow Rener even managed to pull of unexpected switches in point of view in a way that worked for me. Where usually such strategies totally throw me out of a story and have been known to lead me to DNF a book, in this particular case, it really worked. The interludes were necessary and added just the right amount of extra information while staying as short as possible. I truly appreciate how the author managed to pull this off because it is a pet peeve of mine. Additionally, I'm not usually a fan of long, drawn-out endings. The main action ends with 60 pages to go, but nevertheless, I was turning those pages with relish and am so glad I did, because the final bombshell at the very end - we can thank DeeDee for that - was priceless and made for an even better ending than I could have ever hoped for.
All in all, this is a fantastic finale to an epic, fast-paced action-adventure between the human and fae realms. It's a brilliant read, wonderfully written and with some lovely representation. Highly recommended, the Gilded Blood series definitely gets the Book Dragon's Hoard's seal of approval. I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next! And in the meantime, I'm going to hunt down her other series and devour it.
Read my review for Inked, book 1 in the series, here.
Read my review for Jinxed, book 2 in the series, here.
Read my review for Linked, book 3 in the series, here.
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