Sunday, September 7, 2014

Review: Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach


Title: Heaven's Queen (Paradox, #3) 

Author: Rachel Bach

Rating: 4 Stars

*This review is spoiler free for the Paradox Trilogy*

Having finished Heaven's Queen, I can honestly claim to be baffled towards the dislike this final installment has received. Granted, it isn't the strongest of the three novels in this trilogy and, what's more, the ending reads perhaps a little too convenient, but I find myself strangely satisfied.

Honor's Queen is, oddly enough, a much more introspective piece than its predecessor. While it has no shortage of action, wit, or humor, it also forces us to face--head-on--the atrocities in this world and the gray nature of its secondary characters. Fortune's Pawn certainly hinted at an unquiet nature present in space while Honor's Knight exposed the dark underbelly of the intergalactic world, but those facts and figures were left to float about in our minds...until now. In this final installment, Devi has to do something, trust someone, and deal. In a world where the secondary characters are not black or white, but gray, grayer, and grayest, this task becomes incredibly difficult.

Thus, I wound up loving the direction the romance took in this installment with Devi cautiously learning to trust Rupert once again after their formerly rocky emotional relationship. What's more, I loved the evolution of her relationship with the secondary characters we came to love back in Fortune's Pawn. In Heaven's Queen Devi takes chances and often winds right back at square one, but she is making those decisions--which, really, makes a world of a difference. It's a fascinating story simply because we, as the reader, still don't know who to trust or to what degree to trust them and, as such, neither does Devi. Moreover, the difficult moral decisions that have been made in this world are not easily brushed aside and handled. For me, so much of the sheer energy and kudos from this debut trilogy comes from creating such a difficult, complex scenario to begin with and continuing to probe it, poke at it, and find a solution, no matter how simplistic.

Having read every book in this series back-to-back, I didn't stop in-between the formulate theories or evaluate what I wanted--nay, needed--from a conclusion. Perhaps that made the difference. I went into Heaven's Queen wanting Devi to grow, to find her happily-ever-after, and to become a better person. I got that. It may not have been nearly as tension-filled as I'd have wanted (or bittersweet as I'd have liked) and there were certainly moments where this finale lost me, whether it be in Devi's reactions to meeting old friends or simply in the bow-tie conclusion, but seeing as this trilogy was spectacular from start to finish, I don't have a bone to pick with Heaven's Queen after all. Needless to say, I need Rachel Bach to polish off another sci-fi trilogy--fast!--preferably with a cameo appearance by Devi. I'm going to miss this kick-butt, no-nonsense, act-first-think-later, brave girl. I really am.

You can read my spoiler free reviews of Fortune's Pawn and Honor's Knight here and here respectively. 

13 comments:

  1. Everyone do keep saying this series is awesome

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  2. Oh I didn't know that book 3 was already there too but great to see it's always that good! great review!

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  3. I put the first book in this series my audio wish after reading your reviews on the first two books. I'm happy to see they're all out because I love reading a series one book right after the other. I think you get so much more enjoyment that way. This may account for the disappointment of other readers with this final installment. Great review, Keertana! I definitely want to read this! :)

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  4. YAY! Glad this was a more-than satisfying conclusion to this trilogy Keertana. I feel like series endings have been disappointing fairly across the board lately, so I'm glad that was not the case here and you got the growth from Devi you wanted:)

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  5. Ending books are rarely my fave but I'm glad you got everything you wanted. I have to have my HEAs! :) Even though this wasn't the strongest book, it still seemed that it was well worth the read. I'm happy with that. Brilly review!

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  6. I did the same as you, plowing through all three pretty much back-to-back (though I did have to wait a couple weeks for the third one...) and, yeah, I loved the way it all played out and how Devi and Rupert came together. *happy sigh*

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  7. I haven't heard of this series oddly enough. But I must say that I really like the sound of it. It seems truly interesting and I'm really happy that the last book in this series was satisfying. I'm happy you enjoyed this one. Great review, Keertana :)

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  8. I actually haven't heard much about this series before but i love how you were satisfied with the way everything came together and ended. I hate how series nowadays are leaving me so unsatisfied but I'm glad this one wasn't the case for you!

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  9. I actually haven't heard much about this series before but i love how you were satisfied with the way everything came together and ended. I hate how series nowadays are leaving me so unsatisfied but I'm glad this one wasn't the case for you!

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  10. I don't need these books! that's great you were basically happy with the ending though, since so many people seem to have problems with the last book in a series.

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  11. An entertaining story with absorbing characters, guns, plot twists, guns, romance, and, yes, guns.

    Devi is the most entertaining, absorbing heroine in years. Prepare to spend the rest of the evening reading!
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  12. Rollicking space opera starring a tough, sexy, armor-clad space chick...Lots of fun.

    Marlene
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  13. This series has space combat, powered armor, lots of gruesome hand-to-hand combat and gunfights, crazy-interesting aliens. It even has some romance, which becomes a crucial part of the story and Devi's character development as the series ends.

    Good stuff!

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