Book Review: Allied by Amy Tintera (spoiler-free)

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for sending me a review copy of Allied by Amy Tintera – which is one of my most anticipated release of 2018 and also the conclusion of a trilogy! All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Synopsis:

Emelina Flores and her sister, Olivia, were determined to bring peace to the people of Ruina. But as the war for liberation raged on, what triumph and freedom meant to Em and Olivia slowly changed. As Olivia’s violence and thirst for vengeance became her only ambition, Em was left to pick up the pieces.

But it’s not only Em who is upset by Olivia’s increased violence. Other members of the Ruined army are beginning to see the cracks, and soon a small group of them defects from Olivia’s army and joins Em instead.

The two sisters are soon pitted against each other in an epic battle for the kingdom and the future, and only one will win.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Publication Date: 24 Apr 2018
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

This review contains spoilers for book 1 (Ruined) and book 2 (Avenged) – you have been warned!

Where do I even begin with this review? After everything that happened at the end of Avenged, I didn’t even know how things will go in the aftermath yours truly was a mess after book 2 ok. So it was AWESOME to see Tintera seamlessly transitioned the ending of book 2 to book 3 (with a bang) while also maintaining that unique momentum that carried the last few chapters in book 2. I probably should have done a brief flip-through of the last bit of Avenged before I started Allied but with me being me, of course I didn’t 🙂 – but I turned out fine(?), but I kinda do encourage you to do so (or just google the summary or something) if you read book 2 over a year ago like me, so you won’t be seeing this kidcharacter in the book and be like, “wAit a seCOnD, wHo eVEn aRE yOu?”

From time to time, I did wish for the plot to move a tiny bit quicker, but then again, I didn’t mind at all. Because I love Tintera’s style – it’s captivating, it’s aptly paced, it’s succinct. This book has a distinct taste compared to the other two, but you’ll have to read it to get what I mean, since no one likes spoilery things, and it’s kinda hard to explain and I’m lazy.

As for the writing: it’s fresh, it’s appropriate for the YA genre, it’s very descriptive without all the pointless fluff, it’s witty and fun – so it ticks all the boxes for me. And this book has multiple POVs *screams*!!!!!! This novel involves quite a bit of dialogues, which I really appreciated I read a book one month back with the MC talking to themselves 24/7 FYI I did NOT sign up for that and oh daMn – so really, it’s a hit or miss for different types of readers.

There’s heaps of plotting, cute moments, spying, fights, negotiations on certain things between certain parties. I’M TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE CAST and how the plot unfolded in general! Did I mention the dry sarcasm? Bless you Cas my child I breathe for that shit. AND THANK YOU AMY!

It was impossible not to love Em, Cas, Aren, Galo, Iria and Co. The friendships, the romance and character development linked with one another really well and I thought this was worth mentioning – BECAUSE OH MAN THE SHIPS HAD ME SWOONING OKAY. I am hoping for a novella aye, who else is with me?

The only reason this is not a full 5 stars is because I wish there was a bit ‘more’ for the ending – not that it wasn’t good – it was really good! I really really enjoyed it, it was super satisfying, so don’t get me wrong – I just think that there should have been a bit more that went on(?).

This fantasy series is kick-ass good, it was so easy to read and had me flipping through the 400ish pages (times 3) in no time, highly recommend!!!!!

Wings out.

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© Bibliophilic Med Student 2018. All Rights Reserved. Please do not use without permission. All opinions are my own and you can find me on Instagram @bibliomeds and Twitter. You can also follow me on Goodreads.