How It All Ends • Sacrifice

[This is the third book of the Legacy series. If you're interested in reading the series, you can check out my review of Legacy (Book 1) or Allegiance (Book 2) instead.]

Sacrifice by Cayla Kluver
Series: Legacy #3
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: October 23, 2012
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks!) || e-galley
[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the contents of my review.]

This is a story told by two:

Alera, queen of a fallen kingdom, secretly in love with the enemy

Shaselle, daughter of a murdered father, rebel with a cause

One ruled Hytanica, but now walks the razor's edge to keep the fragile peace in her beloved homeland. The other slips through war-torn streets, seeking retribution for her family's tragedy, following whispers of insurgency. Both face choices that will separate them from those they cannot help but love.

As their stories intertwine, a conspiracy ignites that may end in slavery or death - or lead to freedom anew, if only each can face what must be sacrificed.

I’m an ardent lover of the Legacy trilogy. I absolutely adore Cayla Kluver's writing style, the incredible world she’s managed to create, and the characters that she's written to life. And this final novel in the trilogy, Sacrifice, is just a completely fitting way to end things. 

It was a little more difficult for me to get into the novel, mostly because of the constant POV shift between Alera (Queen of Hytanica) and Shaselle (daughter of one of the slain Hytanicans). Having an alternate POV provided the opportunity to see things happening in Hytanica from a different perspective. I definitely appreciate this, as Shaselle’s POV gave us the chance to see what was going on outside of the palace where Alera resides, including what the rebels were up to and how the city was faring under Cokyrian reign. 

While I do believe Alera has definitely transformed from when I first encountered her in Legacy, I still get frustrated with her a lot. When it comes to handling the matters of her kingdom and her people, she’s definitely intelligent, sensitive and diplomatic. There’s a new maturity to her actions, which draws my respect. However, there are certain choices she makes - especially when it comes to Narian - that I find particularly bothersome and disagreeable, and it also frustrated me when she didn’t take action on behalf of some of her subjects at certain points. 

Narian put me on edge a lot, even though he does the best he can to protect the Hytanicans and prevent the wrath of Cokyri from descending on them. He’s certainly intelligent, commands leadership and demonstrates compassion. However, I did think that he was still a bit aloof and closed off, even with Alera. And of course, as someone firmly in Steldor’s camp, it obviously bugged me that Alera chose him. 

Speaking of Steldor, he doesn’t appear to often, to my woe, but when he does, I could still see all the reasons I loved him. He toed the fine line between being recklessly mischievous and carefully responsible. I enjoyed his kindness, optimism, strength and protectiveness over the kingdom and his family. Plus, he’s still such a charmer! 

I will freely admit that I enjoyed reading Shaselle’s chapters a lot more than Alera’s most of the time. She’s the daughter of Baelic, who was Cannan’s brother and who was executed in the last book. She’s definitely unique among the Hytanican women, as she’s a free spirit who loves to ride horses. Her stubbornness and her independence definitely endeared her to me, and I sympathized with her plight as a young woman trying to make sense of a world without her father, and a world where she, as a Hytanican woman, would be required to wed. Her adventures range from exciting and fun, to scary and nerve-wracking, but I commend her general attitude of bravery (though it was often matched with irreverence and impulsiveness). 

As with Allegiance, there is so much happening in this novel. Hytanica is in the process of being rebuilt, and Cokyri is attempting to enforce its power over the city. Tensions run high more often than not, and I was saddened by the fact that there are so many losses and deaths in this novel. There are, of course, a few lighter, more humorous moments scattered throughout the book - trysts between couples, witty remarks and moments of wild abandon - and that definitely balanced things out for me. 

Cayla Kluver has again presented us with a novel that boasts real characters, extreme conflict and a thoroughly satisfying ending to a series that I love. While I do wish a few things had played out differently, I think it Sacrifice is pretty much the best way this series could have ended.

(Note: Don't forget that I still have a giveaway going on for Sacrifice!)