Book Review: Nightblood by Elly Blake

Title: Nightblood
Author: Elly Blake
Series: Frostblood #3
Published: August 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 440
From: Barnes and Noble
Rating: 9/10

And so it ends. The final book in the Frostblood trilogy, author Elly Blake’s breakout young adult fantasy series, comes to a close with this dark and twisty book full of desire, blood, hatred and love.

Nightblood begins where the second book in the trilogy, Fireblood, left off, with Ruby Otrera, the main character, on a ship destined for Tempesia, and a Minax in her heart. The Minax, dark spirits bent on doing the bidding of the god Eurus, will destroy the world if Ruby, Kai, Arcus and the rest of the book’s characters do not attempt to seal the magical doorway holding them at bay.

I purchased Nightblood last year when it was first released as a birthday present to myself (it came out one day before my birthday), and I am so glad I did. I wish I had started the series sooner, and finished it sooner, but in the end, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I personally thought Nightblood was the best of the three books. I thought the character development was on point, with Ruby, Kai and Arcus growing where they should and taking steps back as expected. The plot was also on point, as we learn how Ruby has to seal the door and the Minax away, how she continues to develop deep and dark feelings concerning Eurus and her possible place next to him. Essentially, I felt Blake did not lean toward the cliche in these instances, but rather found a very likely and very unique and fresh plot point for her characters to act out. And that is why I gave this book such a high rating: nothing felt cliche, nothing felt contrived, and everything felt like it was meant to be the way it was, and happen the way it did. I also felt the flow of the entire narrative has matured over the past three books, and Blake has finally hit her stride.

I also enjoyed that Blake did not shy away from the darkness. It felt, in the first book, that Blake was unsure how to word things, or what sort of predicaments would be proper to put her characters in. When Fireblood hit the shelves, I enjoyed the more mature points Blake managed to include without stripping the innocence away from the YA factor. And now, with Nightblood, we have the total darkness, the evil within, and it has burst through. Yet, somehow, Blake was still able to allow the light through and not detract from that. For that, I was very happy.

I truly hope to see what new and exciting stories pop up on bookstore shelves with the name Elly Blake embossed on the covers.

Nightblood, as well as the first two books Frostblood and Fireblood, can be found at Barnes and Noble and other brick and mortar bookstores, as well as online.