Labyrinth's Heart: Rook and Rose, Book Three Paperback – 17 Aug. 2023

This third book solidified the Rook and Rose series as one of my all-time favourites. Excellent character work and the world-building is simply out of this world. I've rarely seen a series in which the world with all its customs, cultures and magic systems felt so real and lived it. Often in fantasy, the cultures seem rigid and I can see behind the curtain as to why an author set something up etc. Here, it all felt natural, the way I would expect cultures grown over centuries to be, with lots of little oddities, complexities, contradictions and lots of variation even within a single culture. I could go on for ages, I just loved it so much. It's also the series with in my opinion the best truly non-heteronormative world-building I've seen so far.I loved the ending of the trilogy and there were so many beautiful and emotional moments, but if I had to criticise something , it would be that there was slightly too much going on. If the authors had given as much time/words to some of these new plotlines, as they had for each plotline back in The Mask of Mirrors... the series would have been flawless. But it probably would have been 4 or even 5 books long, and I understand that this was not possible and that they had a strict limitation on the word count.But again, in the end, this is just nitpicking and mainly down to the fact, that I love slow-paced stories and the final instalments of any series tend to be faster-paced than the previous books.I can't recommend the series highly enough and will reread them endlessly!

Really enjoyed this fantasy series. An orphaned waif raised by a crime gang returns to her troubled home city -  disguised as a noble, with a plan to wheedle her way into the upper echelons of society. Only to find there are darker plots and magic at play which she finds herself embroiled in.

This trilogy is one of my favourites. The world-building, the character and relationship development, the complexity of the moral decisions, it's all fantastic. I absolutely loved reading all three books back to back and this one most of all. The resolution of all the different threads of the story was so satisfying. I'm so looking forward to reading it again knowing how things turn out.

This was an amazing final instalment to what has been a fabulous 5 star series. The conclusion was beautifully and masterfully constructed.The series has had political intrigue, cons, vigilantes, masked avengers of a subjugated people, heists, betrayals and many many more. There are two beautifully constructed magic systems a world that feels tangible and real. Finishing the series was so bitter sweet.

Look, if you got this far in the series you’ll be reading this anyway. If you haven’t, start with the beginning: mask of mirrors. Go check out my review there but suffice to say this series is utterly fantastic.

Ahhh. What can I say about this trilogy. I absolutely love it. There is some beautifully complex world building and a lot of interesting characters. I love the 'Numinatra' magic sprinkled throughout.The audiobook narrator Nikki Massoud does fantastically well with the array of accents and improves the story for me, even though it is incredibly well written as it is. I think I follow it better with her narration as all the long, complicated names can get a bit confusing! Although I've read the first two twice and now the third, I still get constantly tripped up by character names and mix them up a lot!MILD SPOILERSThis book spent a lot of time wrapping up loose ends, as was to be expected, but that is the downside of a book 3/3. I wish it was a bit more grit and a bit less romance, but that being said, I enjoyed it and even had a tear in my eye once or twice. I want more Tess & Pavlin, more Ren & Grey, and absolutely more Vargo & Arkady. I would read another trilogy on them alone!

Labyrinth's HeartRook and Rose, Book Threeby M. A. CarrickReview from Jeannie Zelos book reviewsGenre: Sci-fi and fantasyWhat a fabulous trilogy this has been. Full of new ideas, interesting characters, a world that is so very different. Right from the start the idea of Pattern intrigued me and I'm so pleased the authors are planning to release a deck. ( I'd be even more pleased if I could afford it but such is life. One day. )Ren has come such a long way, but she's not the only one. All the main characters are very different from how I first saw them.Its a story that's hard to describe, hard to read occasionally, tested my brain, made me keep looking back to check facts and numbers, they are just not my thing so fascinating though the idea of Numinatra and the magic was it kind of went over my head at times. But Pattern, that's stayed with me and has been another constant thread throughout the story.There are parts of the trilogy I still don't fully understand even having got to the end and its one of those where for me a rereading will show things I missed first time round.The characters are amazing – but I have to say, noble though Grey is my heart is truly with Vargo. And Alsius of course ;-)There's drama, danger, excitement, deaths and a few rebirths in the sense of people gone before that manage to connect. Its a very dense story, everything plays a part, every action is connected to some plot somewhere- and there are so many.This was a fascinating read, will stay with me for some time. And I certainly will read all over again.Stars: five, five all the way, a fabulous ending to a complex and intriguing trilogy.ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

Took a little bit to remember the plot and the characters (thank you for the dramatic personae) as it’s been a bit since I read the first two with other series in between. But I soon found myself immersed again in an incredible world, sympathetic characters and a tremendous climax to a noteworthy series.

Ok

Great ending to one of my favorite fantasy series of the last few years. My favorite might still be the second book but it's still a very good conclusion

I have already read the first two parts of this series twice, considered making a deck of the Face and Mask cards (I'm a tarot /oracle artist), though I've now decided that eight decks is quite enough... I will certainly read the whole series again with a notebook beside me to sort out the characters.There are very few series for which I now order hard copies but these are definitely on my bookshelf for the duration. I love the mix of sacred geometry and card patterning and wish we had the Wellspring manifest here. However, the energies of the Primordials are reaching into our world ever closer.... We should be rather more careful of them than our hubris allows.

I love the world and the characters. This is a well thought out story that I would recommend to anyone with half an imagination, if not a complete one, that loves magic, tarot, intrigue, and a well spun tale that you will have trouble putting down. My next cat will be called Arkady Bones!!!