What a glorious end to a beautiful saga. Through The Kingdom of Almonds, we follow our best beloved characters as they continue their fight against the war machine that is Tarses. My favourite part of Kaplan's writing is her characters, and she does not fail the through line she has been stringing through the series. The Kingdom of Almonds is a fantastic third and final book in this trilogy and I hated that it ended.

If you haven't read the first book in the series, I recommend you do so immediately. If you are continuing your journey with Toba and Naftaly, you will not be disappointed.

This was an absolute perfect end to the Mirror Realm Cycle. The whole gang is back, Toba, Tsifra, Elena, Barsilay, Naftaly, the old woman and the Tarses.
I really enjoyed the demons in this book, the old woman and them add some delightful levity to a tense and very adventurous tale.
The stakes are so high, and I was very curious to see what would happen and if Tarses would succeed.
The Mazik, Aravoth, human world and the dream world are so well fleshed out.
I also really enjoyed the character development in the whole trilogy. Everyone is so well rounded.
The Ziz was delightful as were the newer characters. It’s like a beautiful 3D puzzle that all came together. I laughed, I cried. I highly recommend this Jewish fantasy novel. The entire trilogy is one of the best and well crafted trilogies I have ever read. I would give this 5.5 stars if I could.

I've absolutely adored this series and this was a beautiful, brilliant conclusion.

I loved returning to this world and characters. Barsilay and Naftaly remain my favourites, I adore them both as characters and love their relationship. They had so many good moments in this one, especially with Barsilay asking Naftaly to be his conscience.

On the subject of Barsilay, I really enjoyed the storyline of his imprisonment in P'ri Hadar. His relationship with the demons was so good, and I enjoyed how they were characterised and being particularly cat-like. And the way he worked to free the other prisoners - and the fact that has later plot implications - was just so fun to read.

I am just in awe of how well the various storylines were balanced because there's such a cast of core characters in their series and everything they did actually had an impact on the ending. The plot was just so tightly out together and well-executed.

I loved the new characters that were introduced. Nehama was an especially interesting introduction with her being the reincarnated version of the original Toba. I loved how she was both her own person and still in possession of some of the memories of her past self. I also thought it was great that she was only introduced now - when Toba (seemingly the main character) died back in The Pomegranate Gate it was such a shake up and I love how Ariel Kaplan wasn't scared to keep her dead for the whole of book two. (Also love how many Toba's we've had in this trilogy: original Toba who became Nehama, Toba Bet who became Toba then a Ziz then back to Toba, and then there's even her sister The Course who shares the same name of Tsifira N'dar).

Natin and Ayleth were also great new additions and interesting characters.

I'm still unsure about Toba and Asmel. Because he's Barsilay's uncle I can't help but see Asmel as being really old (which he is comparatively given that he's a mazik) and, in this book especially, I didn't feel the romantic chemistry between the two. I don't mind that because there's so many bigger elements at okay in the plot but they're definitely the couple I was rooting for the least. As I mentioned earlier Barsilay and Naftaly had some great moments, plus Nehama and Natin proved to be quite sweet.

Back to the overall plot, I loved how much the final battle with Tarses and the rebuilding of Luz (i.e. pulling it from the sea and restoring the gate) was built up. Everything that happened proved important and had a tangible impact on the ending. I loved how Naftaly's decision to spare Habush's archers led to them coming and joining the attack on Tarses' forces - hemming them in between themselves and P'ri Hadar.

That said, it's always weird reading so much build-up and then the enemy just dies in a sentence. And suddenly it's all over. Tarses definitely got what he deserved though. And Elena's last line to him was brutal.

I also adored the ending. I loved the way we got a glimpse of the 20yrs that followed these events, and also loved how much it made me cry. This book has seen me sobbing close to midnight. I especially loved Tsifira/The courser's ending - just the fact that she gets to be the normal person she envied Toba for being as a child, she gets to forget everything she was made to do by her father and become Elena's granddaughter. She becomes mortal, with a new name, and a new role caring for her new grandparents as Elena returns to the mortal world. And that's just so beautiful. And then the old woman - I loved seeing Barsilay work to make sure there will be no more monarchs of Lus and realising that with the old woman as Queen there will be no bloodline to follow. It was heartbreaking in a way seeing how alone the old woman has been but so beautiful seeing her cared for in the years the followed, and knowing she's not alone now (and hasn't really been alone since meeting Naftaly). I also loved that, at the end of it all, the old woman was just that. She wasn't some great reveal waiting to happen, someone with some secret identity or bloodline that had some grand relevance to the plot. She was just an old woman named Serah who simply became important through her actions.

Just such a beautiful conclusion to a gorgeous series.

A brilliant, epic fantasy series. The Kingdom of Almonds is five stars. Thank you so much to the author., publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This was a fantastic conclusion to a series I've loved. Kaplan did a wonderful job with this and I really enjoyed it. Can't wait for more from her.

A huge hit in our Library - this is a fantastic end to a phenomenal trilogy that has enthralled my students no end. I can't wait to see what this author does next.