Gorgeous photo by @paperfury
Hello everyone and welcome to the 5th and final day of the readalong!
Can you believe it’s the final day?! This week has gone so quickly and I can’t wait for the conclusion of this book!
I have really loved hosting this readalong and reading your thoughts/theories each day has definitely made my week! I hope you have all enjoyed reading this book along with me!
Today we’re reading chapters 33 – the end!
Please be warned, the following will include spoilers for This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria! Read only if you’ve finished the book!
-!SPOILERS!-
Yesterday we let off with quite the cliffhanger! We’re back to find Alix immobilised, betrayed by Karis in order to save her brother’s life! Alix was built by his father not to be a weapon or a puppet but to be a script ink vessel. But oh no the Heart is stealing all the Script ink back, draining it from his body.
Alex isn’t moving!! Oh no, what did you do Karis?! She just gave the Magistrate exactly what he wants! And there we go, he just woke up the Colossus YIKES they better runnnnn!
Intense no?
Karis and Matthias finally have the reunion she’s been hoping for but it’s tainted by the guilt Karis is feeling at choosing Matthias over Alix.
We find out that the reason Matthias didn’t seek her out after escaping the Library is because he wanted to keep her safe away from the troubles he would bring her, okay this makes a lot of sense. Her brother is different now, Rudy was the one who helped give him that, who helped him to change. Just like Alix changed Karis.
Ah man Ksris interrupted a tender moment between Zara and Dane there huh? Zara isn’t so quick to forgive Karis though, “Alix trusted you, you know. We all trusted you.”
But wait can she make this right? The pendant of course!! It worked, Alix is awake ? but as soon as he sees Karis betrayal engulfs him OUCH
Can that trust they had ever be rebuilt?
“Is it supposed to hurt this much?” I ask. * OUCHHHHH*
Oh wow that final memory hit me in the feels folks! Of course he saw Alix as his son… “Whatever you choose to do with your life, know that I couldn’t be prouder to call you my son.” ?
He remembers how to destroy the heart, now we re getting somewhere! Here’s hoping Karis’ cannonball plan works!
Zara kissed Dane!!
Alix manages to take down one automaton but oh oh, they have his attention now. The Collossus is coming for them!
The Colossus takes a cannonball to the chest and falls through the Crimson Streak?! Thank goodness the crew are okay!
Y’all catch the moment of panic Alix had at seeing Karis with his tome? Karis will have to work real hard to earn back his trust!
Yay Alix manages to destroy it! The Heart is gone. The magistrate & Scriptorium will never be able to use it again. YAY. We had a heart stopping moment where Karis was down but she’s okay! Phew!
But it’s not quite over yet they still have the Magistrate to deal with…
It was close there for a sec but thanks to some teamwork, these siblings take him down! It’s over. The Heart is destroyed. The magistrate is captured and the city is theirs!
Karis and Alix have some rebuilding of trust to be done here but things are looking hopeful folks!
We leave our crew ready to build a new Scriptorium and a better world. Dane and Zara are literally sailing off into the sunset and it looks like Matthias and Rudy will be staying in Karis’ life for a while. Alix still has a lot of learning to do about himself and his history but with Karis on the council alongside him, “Together they will change the world, one more time.”
What a heart warming and hopeful ending!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how this book wrapped up! Did you love the strong friendships built here as much as I did? What were your favourite parts and most shocking moments? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you so much for joining this readalong, you made it so much fun!
We hope to see you in the next one and wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead!
Love,
Codie
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Codie, at first I want to thank you for this read along. I didn’t love the book but I liked joining the read along. A change to read a book which otherwise would probably end up on a big tbr pile ?
What I can’t get over is the fact that when Karis saw the prison cells, she didn’t immediately run to look for her brother!!?!!! Her whole life has been about escaping and finding her brother, nothing would’ve stopped me if I were her. Also… I was surprised that Calantha wasn’t kept prisoner there, I thought she would or would be with the magistrate.
I’m glad the book’s finished, so I can start reading the Elfhame series. I hope and think I’m gonna like those books more. Unfortunately you can’t love every book.
Thanks again and see you next time!
Love, Sandy
I hope you enjoy the Elfhame books, that’s one of my favourite series ever!!!
Ahh, that was a nice ending. Karis using Alix’s tome was messed up and I am glad he didn’t simply forgive her – even at the end of the book it was a bit tense between them. And even though the portrayal irked me in some ways, it was really nice to read a fantasy/scifi book with an aroace lead.
So, this is sitting somewhere between a three and four star for me. I liked the representation for the most part, the theme of friendship and the overall story. Thought the structure was a bit of a mess though, and the characters could have been more distinct.
Going to settle on ⭐⭐⭐◽◽, however, because I just remembered how much the misgendering annoyed me lol. Seriously, SERIOUSLY hope that gets caught in any future prints.. .
I enjoyed the ending and the book was enjoyable but not mind-blowing. I think it could have gone deeper and been book one of a longer series with a few tweaks.
I was pretty annoyed at Maria’s betrayal… Like what was she thinking? I didn’t feel like it was plausible because once the magistrate had the script ink he would have hunted them down.
Glad Alix got a happy memory back and that he is going to have a voice on the committee going forward.
I’d say it was a 3.5 star read for me.
Maria = Karis lol
My favourite part was definetly Zara and her pirate crew! Also, Alix, because he’s such a sweet little thing.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy this book as much as I’d hope I would. I never really connected to or cared for the characters. The story was almost too easy, but it was a quick read.
This book is a little strange.
I loved the beginning, but then it became kinda… flat? If this makes sense?
It was an enjoyable read, but it felt a little underdeveloped in some parts (maybe because it had to be a standalone, so the author couldn’t get into too much detail on some things) and the plot was too linear.
However I loved the pacing and the characters, so I’ll surely check out the next books from this author.
It’s a 3.5 stars in my opinion: good, but sadly not a new favourite.
I agree, the opening was much stronger than the rest of the book.
I agree with this. Really liked the concept but like you say felt a bit flat. 3 stars from me!
Thanks for this readalong, it was fun! And I agree with the comment above this readalong really pushed me to READ the book rather than let it sit on my shelf for ages, I hope to join more of these readalongs in the future!
Unfortunately, overall this book didn’t vibe with me. It’s a “its not you, its me” book, and I know a lot of people will like it! But it felt underdeveloped to me. I wanted more out of this. And the writing felt…. juvenile feels like the wrong word, this is young adult, but upper middle grade? More for a younger “young adult” audience like 13-14 age, know what I mean? Nothing wrong with that! But as an actual adult myself, the writing felt on the younger side.
I was glad for the asexual rep but I wish there was more about that. Alix was easily my favorite, but I felt like none of the characters were developed as well as they could have been and it felt rushed overall.
I had so much fun doing this read a long. However, this book kind of fell a little bit flat for me. My biggest critique is that I wished that this book would have been a little bit longer or was a series. I think that there was so much that could of been developed more and explained a lot more. . I didn’t mind that it was fast paced but I think because of it the story almost felt rushed. Maybe because I’m used to reading series stand alones almost feel foreign to me.
As much as I enjoyed our characters I didn’t really feel connected with them. I really wished we got to learn more about the magistrate and the Scriptoriums, I feel like that was a part of the story that was underdeveloped and could of used more context. Also I don’t really ship Zara and Dane, I kind of wanted Karis and Dane to end up together, but it was nice to see a MC not end up with a love interest for once.
However, I really enjoyed the premise of this book and felt like it was fun and unique.
All in all, it was an enjoyable read and I would probably pick up more books from this author in the future. 3 out of 5 stars.
All in all it was a solid read and I would be willing to
I really liked where each of the characters ended up at the end of the story
It’s a 3.5 in my opinion. I really liked the parts about the automatons and I adored Alix. Karis, hasn’t become a favourite. I also really liked Zara and her crew, plus Dane, Matthi, the supporting cast was really good!
Unfortunately the book hasn’t become a favourite, it was a bit too slow for my taste and I would have loved to read more of the world. Thank you for hosting the readalong!