Grave War (Alex Craft, #7)

by Kalayna Price

[Quirky Cat]

The publication of Grave War is a bittersweet moment for many a reader. This is the seventh – and final – novel in Kalayna Price's Alex Craft series. I'm not entirely sure that I'm ready to say goodbye to it.

Alex Craft is, and always will be, a Grave Witch. Yet plenty has changed for her over the years. She learned that she is also a Plainweaver, and that her fate is more intricately tied to Faerie than she ever could have imagined. Both the good, and the bad.

A fact proved painfully true when Eternal Bloom is torn asunder by an explosion. The tree – and the doorway – are beyond repair. Leaving Alex and every other fae in the area stranded. Worse, this isn't the only attack on the doorways to Faerie. There's a timer counting down, and Alex must find a way to save Faerie, her friends, and her lover. All before it's too late.

“My dearest Lexi, are you having an exciting first week?”

When my copy of Grave War arrived, I'll admit I was pretty torn about it. To read it was to see the series end. Yet I couldn't just leave things are they were, now could I? Having finally caved and read it (all in one sitting, at that), I'm so glad that I did.

Alex's adventure has never come with higher stakes, and it shows. She's faced plenty of enemies before, but none have ever threatened the entirety of Faerie. At least, not that Alex has personally seen. Naturally, that means that this novel is full of action, blood, politics, and more.
Just the way I like my fae stories.

This was certainly a dramatic way to conclude Alex's story, and it brought about many twists and changes that I sincerely did not see coming. And I'm pretty used to reading stories involving fae trickery and deception too!

On that note, there were some really clever twists and surprises woven into this tale. One in particular had me screaming – both because of the implications, and because it surprised me so much. Yet it made a painful amount of sense as well, so I'm not even going to consider criticizing the move.

Honestly, that isn't the only thing that surprised me about Grave War. For at least the first half of this book, it felt like just another addition to the series. It didn't feel like a finale. Not until the full scale of the situation was made clear. Then it started hitting home.

I'm still pretty heartbroken about this series, though I am grateful that Kalayna Price knew that it was time to end the series (hey, we've all seen a series go on far longer than it ever should have). Alex's story is done, and I think the conclusion is going to be satisfying for many fans out there. That being said, I wonder what Price will work on next?

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