The Girl and the Moon

Oh, how I wish I could write a review that's just a stack of emojis showing my facial expressions while reading... I think I went through my entire range while reading "The Girl and the Moon". If you've been following my reviews you'll know how much I loved "The Girl and the Stars" and "The Girl and the Mountain", I love this final book in the trilogy just as much... and the whole series is just stunning. Read it, or I'll weep!!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

The Girl and the Moon

“Yaz had walked on water her entire life, and now in this place where it fell molten from the skies they planned to drown her in the stuff.”

Third and final volume of Book of the Ice - you won’t want to miss this. As usual, Lawrence begins with points from the previous books to aide your memory. If you haven’t read books 1 and 2 - do so, in fact read all his books!

Yaz and her friends have reached the Greenlands - imagine having only seen ice, snow, melted seas, fish (eaten raw). Now, there are countless types of green plants, food aplenty and enemies that arrived before you!

What follows is a masterpiece of storytelling that packs so much into a mere 400 pages. The conclusion is truly outstanding and brings in links to previous trilogies in unexpected ways. Those last few pages…. no, even hinting would ruin it. Spectacular. Do yourself a favour and pre-order this. Read the first two while you wait.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for providing this E- ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a way of wrapping up more than this trilogy, turning things from not knowing where it is going, to cheering out at the way things ended. (and yes I did indeed cheer.)

The story follows along from the last book, and in typical Mark Lawrence fashion, once you start, you simply can not out this down. I love how his characters are both flawed, compelling, and even those you may not like to start with, you will change your opinion by the end.

I know this book won't take much selling, or me to convince you to read it, if you are a fan of his work, you simply will. And if you have not read any of Mark Lawrence's work, then please do, you will not regret it.

So, in conclusion: its an ending that will knock your socks off.

I've been reading Mark Lawrence's books since the very beginning. I have a paperback copy of Prince of Fools, which I noticed the other day actually says 'map forthcoming' on the map page:)

Never once, in all the books I've read, has he finished a trilogy the way I wanted him to do so. He is infuriatingly consistent with this, and still, I hope, each and every time, to have the answers to all I want to know. And now, with the end of the Book of the Ice, I find myself not only without the ending I 'thought' I was going to get, but much, much worse, feeling as though I need to go back and read ALL the books again to unpick the 'threads' and perhaps find the answers I want for myself. Grrrr.

To me, this means Mark Lawrence remains at the top of his game, and while I might find it all very frustrating, that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the books, and the universe(s)? he's created.

A fine end to another great trilogy, and one I took my time with because, quite frankly, I didn't want it to end, not in the end:)

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my review copy.

The final book in the Book of the Ice trilogy picks up straight after the cliff-hanger of book 2 with Yaz & her companions coming unexpectedly face to face with an unwelcome familiar face (and a load of nuns).
Can they survive & complete their quest? I'm not going to tell you.

I have come to love this motley cast of characters with all their strengths & flaws and I'm glad this book does them justice.

With so many threads coming together it should be a dense read but it's not. I don't know how Mark Lawrence manages to create a world with so much depth, history & conflict that is still so easy to read, but he does! This is a masterclass in world-building!

As someone who hasn't read all of his previous works, I realise I'm missing some of the clues and reveals but I don't feel like they are necessary to understand or enjoy this trilogy. Having said that, I will definitely be reading his other series soon.

I really recommend this series if you enjoy great characters and richly layered worlds.