What an amazing ending to an amazing series!

The thing about these books is, I didn’t read them for the action or the mystery or even the plot (though I did enjoy those things, don’t get me wrong). I read them for the characters, the emotion, and the depth. And they never disappointed, especially this third book. The author has this way of describing things, of showing-not-telling, of making you feel, of imbuing such depth into everything that I often found myself tearing up, frowning, smiling from ear to ear, reacting in all these different involuntary ways to what seemed like the smallest and most insignificant of moments because she made sure to give them significance and write in a way that portrayed that significance. And it didn’t stop with Nathan—I was feeling things for all the characters, even side characters that weren’t introduced until the last book. And she found a way to expertly weave all these other characters’ emotions into a series that was told almost entirely from Nathan’s third person POV without it seeming out of place or coincidental or forced.

Overall, this was the kind of series that, despite all the hardships and pain the characters went through, made me feel good and warm and sappy. So if you like feeling good and warm and sappy, I think you’ll love it, too!

*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 1st read.*

2nd Read Update:
Five years later, and my first review still holds. I had forgotten just how much these books affected me. For days after I finished, I was still just kind of… constantly thinking about these books and feeling things.

Also, the more this book (and series) went on, the more Nathan grew and changed, and the more I came to love him, including his imperfections and insecurities. He was scared and struggled to have the same faith in himself that others did, but he was such a good person.

The plot was a little slower in this one, a little more meander-y at times, but it was necessary for the story. And there was still plenty happening, what with everything the series had been building up to.

I’m not quite sure how other people define HFN and HEA, but I would say this might be a HFN to some, since there was no epilogue about the future, with an implied HEA. To me it’s an HEA because there’s no way a relationship this beautiful wouldn’t last forever.

So to summarize… I loved all the characters. And the relationships. And the story. And the emotion. Just like the others, this one made me want to cry—not because I was sad, but because I just felt so much for the characters, or because there was so much good and hope and happiness for them after all the bad they’d been through, or because they always had each other, even during the bad.

*Sigh* I just love this series.

Reread Ratings:
5 Stars (1st read – 2015)
5 Stars (2nd read – 2020)