The last revolution

Crannig Castle ~ Morgan Elizabeth Huneke

WHY AM I SO BAD AT POSTING???

I’m so sorry, children. I’ve been an awful mother to you the past 2 months or so with the pathetic amount of posting I’ve done. My excuse? Um, well I was on holiday for a bit. I… had to do some stuff. Crazy busy, as you can see.

But I’m back! Let’s throw a party!! Ok, party over, let’s move on to what you’ve all been waiting for… *drumroll* …a review of Crannig Castle by the utterly fabulous Morgan Elizabeth Huneke! I’m telling you guys, she’s a genius. I’m pretty sure the link on her name above takes you to her blog? So yeah, go explore after this review…

The Time Captives have reunited, freed the rightful king of Calhortz and now they have one last mission to complete in order to defeat the strytes: gather an army. Five groups set out to unite slaves, kalicans, merpeople, elves and the people of Briznom. However each group must face their torturous pasts, and reconcile with people they had longed to forget, so as to recruit a big enough army to end the reign of the strytes. No one said it was going to be easy, but the Time Captives have only one chance to save this world they have discovered and finally return home. But with the cruel and powerful Toarna in their way, and the fear of facing the ghosts from their pasts that have haunted them for so many years, will the Time Captives ever succeed? What if no one is willing to fight? Will they be trapped as 12-year-olds in this world forever?

I’m so upset to be finishing this series!! I don’t read much Christian fantasy, but this has definitely encouraged me to find some more. The story was constantly twisting and turning, never losing the reader’s interest. I liked how everything was neatly tied up at the end, but I feel like I could have had more feels. It was just a little too perfect? A little more battle would have been nice, and I know the Time Captives’ weapons were basically enchanted to fight perfectly, but I think it’s a teensy bit unrealistic for there to have been next to no deaths. And there was so much probability of there being a death because there were so many characters. I felt like ten Time Captives was enough for the story, but then there was Adriel, the king of Calhortz, his family, a handful of elves and then darling little Peetur who I felt was completely forgotten about? He was adorable, but also slightly irrelevant to the story. There were just too many characters, which made it difficult to actually connect with all of them. Most of the less important characters were totally forgotten about and there would have been no change to the story if they just weren’t there. Also there were fewer past chapters, which were my favourite chapters in the previous books. And just a lil question, what does everyone look like? There was little description, even of hair colour, so it was hard for me to picture the characters because imagery is one of the most important things for me in a book.

And George my darling boy. I was hoping him and Cam’s (Camthalion is too long a name for me I’m sorry) little reconciliation would be more… I don’t know, deep and full of feels and maybe if there was more shouting at each other… basically just more because George and Cam were alone for 40 years, people, 40 YEARS, and yet their reconciliation was just “hey, I forgive you, it’s cool.” 40 YEARS, children. It was a lil disappointing.

Yes, I know it sounds like I hated the book and it was so disappointing and you should throw it deep into a damp pit, but as you can see, I’m literally nitpicking the negatives because it was an excellent book overall, it really was! I loved the Theodore backstory and just Theo in general. I adored the little letters at the end! I honestly cried so much reading them. SO MUCH PEEPS. Even if you hate the book with all of your cold, stony heart, those letters will make you give it five frickin stars. They were the best touch, so thank you Morgan. The sibling love in this was the cutest, by the way. And all the love basically. Eleanor’s story crushes my soul. Adriel’s story melts my squishy heart. Not really a fan of Adriel and Jill? I know nothing actually happened between them, but I totally ship Adriel and Emily…

THE SCENE WHEN EMILY SHOOTS (spoiler) AND SAVES (spoiler)’S LIFE AT THE END WAS MY FAVOURITE THING EVER. I think I actually cried because throughout the whole series the sibling rivalry was so hot and then there was this scene of perfection and argh. I love the sibling relationships in this so much. Bit upset that the two didn’t talk about it or properly reconcile or hug or anything afterwards? But I guess saving each other’s lives is a normal sibling thing in this trilogy. Oh well, I shall weep silently.

Another thing I really liked was just the style of the story. It felt very C.S. Lewis with a hint of J.R.R. Tolkien, but at the same time the story was so original. I loved how there were classic fantasy elements like dragons, pirates, merpeople, but also unique new ones like strytes, kalicans and, of course, Time Captives. At times it did feel a smidgen cliché, but the mix of old and new was a nice touch. I feel like there’s more to say, but I left this review too long so yes throw eggs and tomatoes at me for my procrastination. But basically this trilogy is my favourite.

Clover count: ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ (8/10)