(SPOILERS) The Shattered Castle (Ascendance #5) by Jennifer A. Nielsen - Review

Book Synopsis:

King Jaron has outwitted the Prozarians and returned to his own kingdom with one secret in his pocket that not even his friends know about. He's hoping that secret will help him finally bring stability to Carthya.

But a surprise attack on his own land -- on the castle itself -- reminds Jaron that nothing is easy. The Prozarian Monarch threatens to crumble Jaron's entire kingdom. And that's not the only thing in danger: With old enemies and new rumors circling around him, even Jaron's relationship with Imogen is uncertain.

This former False Prince will need his best tricks and many allies at his side to hold Carthya together.

My Review:

4/5 stars. I liked this final edition to the ascendance series more than the last one, but still not as much as the original trilogy. The characters were lovable, as always. It kept me engaged throughout, and I especially loved the last fourth of the book. However, I thought a lot of the conflict was forced and unnecessary, and the author kind of gave Jaron the same character arc and plots he already went through in the first three books.

I'll start with my biggest complaints, and then say what I loved. Firstly, the conflict between Jaron and Imogen. A big part of this book is that Jaron and Imogen might not be together in the end. Imogen breaks it off with him at the beginning, and then there's a possibility that she might marry someone else. However, we know that they are going to end up together because this book takes place before the epilogue of book 3, which specifically mentions that they got married. This conflict was presented as a big "what if" except you already know the outcome! It felt like conflict for the sake of conflict.

On top of that, another reason I didn't like the conflict between Jaron and Imogen is because it kind of negated the satisfying conclusion we got from them in the trilogy. After their three book long slow burn, they finally got together, only for them to be apart again unnecessarily two books later.

Another small thing that annoyed me, and I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, was Jaron's attitude toward Imogen keeping secrets. It was very hypocritical of him to be frustrated with her for being secretive, when he never tells anybody anything himself.

Some aspects of this book felt very similar to the previous ones. Jaron disguises himself for a good portion of this book, just like he was disguised as a commoner and then pirate in the second book. In this one, Carthya is under attack, just like in the third book. It's like the author didn't have unique enough ideas so she just combined some elements from earlier books.

Similarly, Jaron's character arc in this book felt pretty familiar. He learns to trust people and not hold things so close to his chest all the time, but he already learned that over the course of the trilogy. He just made the same mistakes he learned to overcome, like a regression. I'm sure there were lots of new lessons Jaron could have learned, but the author gave him almost the same one.

I've been harsh, but I did really enjoy this book. Now I'll move on to the positives. A small side character was introduced - Cook - who I loved. She was fun and rebellious in her own way as a servant, and I loved Jaron's dynamic with her. I would've liked a bit more from her, though.

The best part of this book was when Jaron finally told Imogen the whole truth and apologized. That was very refreshing and needed after how he had been throughout the series. I love when characters have flaws but also own up to their mistakes, which is exactly how Jaron was in this book.

As I already mentioned at the beginning, the last fourth of this book was the best. The battle scenes were very epic and cinematic, and there were lots of triumphant character moments. I also loved the puzzle aspect of them going through the crypt to find the treasure. Finally, the ending where Imogen and Jaron finally get married was adorable.

Content:

Language: None, but lots of mentions of cursing without any curses written out

Sexual Content: Kisses that aren't described in detail

Violence/Gore: Lots of injuries, wounds, death, whippings, a few mentions of blood, but nothing too gory

Drugs/Alcohol: None