Audiobook Review –

Cherish by Tracy Wolff

Publication Date: May 30, 2023

Summary from GoodReads:

The sensational conclusion to the massive #1 New York Times bestselling series…

It’s been over three months since my friends and I took down Cyrus. Three months where my biggest fear was what paper was due next… But I should have known it was too good to last. Now everything is falling apart.

The Vampire Court has no king, the Dragon Court has no heart, and the Gargoyle Court has me—a teenager in way over her head. And it’s the worst possible timing, because a threat is brewing just as the Circle is collapsing.

I have no choice but to return to the Shadow Realm and face the terrifying queen who nearly ended us…and make a deal with her to save Mekhi. But this time, I’m bringing my powerful friends with me—and Hudson. Except something is wrong with him, too. He’s keeping a secret—even from me.

All I know is that everyone’s life hangs in the balance. And it’s my fault—because I still owe the Crone a favor…and now she’s come to collect.

Confession:

I just hate it when a series that I have enjoyed goes downhill after the first two or three books. There are several series that I have never finished over the years for this very reason. I had my reservations about reading this book after the last two, because I really felt that Court should have been the end. But I was a little hopeful and I also wanted to see how things wrapped up. But sadly, I should have listened to that little voice in my head that said not to bother.

I do think that a little bit of the blame could be the audiobook narrator. Her voice just didn’t work for me, but it wasn’t so bad that I didn’t decide to quit the audiobook. But I know that the majority of my issues falls on Grace. She just annoyed me to no end in this book with her incessant whining. The other thing I disliked was her constantly harping on the same things in her head, the inner dialogue was just so repetitive it drove me nuts. I probably would have skipped pages if I had been reading this. There also did not appear to be any character growth, she was just the same at the end as the start.

This was definitely the Grace show. The other characters that we have come to know and love were there, but barely. They were mostly after thoughts, put in just so Grace had someone to talk to. There were some nice moments here and there that I appreciated but I kept forgetting that the other characters were there as it was hard to hear them over Grace’s self absorbed thoughts. Even Hudson felt in the background, which was weird, because Grace thought about him obsessively the whole time.

Finally, the plot was just a mess. Nothing made sense and they kept going from one disaster to another without much thought or planning. The ending really made no sense either, and things just got a bit weird as well. There were still loose ends to some of the subplots, or things were fixed way to easily. The whole book was long winded and repetitive which certainly didn’t help. It could have been about half the length and been a much better read.

I am sad that I didn’t enjoy this more. I so enjoyed the campy and lighthearted feel to first two books, and the interactions between the characters. I loved Hudson and Grace’s relationship in Crush, and their life at Katmere Academy. I am even sadder that I had to write such a negative review. But I am hopeful that the spin off series with Remy will make me like this world and author again.