Valley by Stacey McEwan

Valley by Stacey McEwan

Stacey McEwan wraps up the story of Dawsyn and Ryon in the final installment of her Glacian trilogy. This is a spoiler free review for Valley, the third and last book in the series, but check out our summary page for the Glacian trilogy if you need to remember what happened before delving into this book. We are going to deal with death, gore, sexual assault and attempted rape, violence and blood, grief, murder, pregnancy, classism, and war.

Dawsyn has finally managed to convince at least some of the people on the Ledge to follow her into the Chasm and (hopefully) to a land where they can live freely and safely. Now, all she needs to do is to get them there. Not so easy when both the King of Glacia and the Queen of Terrsaw want Dawsyn dead and the people she rescued back on the Ledge - or worse. Not to mention that Dawsyn was recently betrayed by someone that she trusted and it seems like the Chasm itself is out to get them, they can hear whispers all around them in the pitch black darkness, the whispers even infiltrate their dreams. Can Dawsyn trust the people she's with? Can she even trust herself? Is there really a green land waiting for them at the end of the tunnel? With their powers running low, most of them injured or ill, and their food and supplies quickly depleting, Dawsyn just hopes they can make it to the end of the Chasm to find out.

I am torn on this book. I really enjoyed the first book in the trilogy, Ledge, and I liked the second book, Chasm, as well, though it took me much longer to get into. I felt the same about this one. It wasn't quite as slow as Chasm but it still took me far longer than I expected to get back into the story. And even once I was invested, the majority of the action takes place in the last 10% of the book. Dawsyn is the least annoying in this book out of all of them, but I just didn't feel as connected or engaged by any of the characters or the storyline. The series wraps up in a way that was unexpected but I enjoyed. The writing was good. But it just didn't have the spark that the first book had and while it didn't leave me unsatisfied at the end, it did feel like I had to struggle to get there at times. There are a lot of temporary characters and set up in the third book which took too much time and space, although I did like that we get to hear Yennes' story as well as follow Dawsyn.

I'm giving Valley by Stacey McEwan 3.75 stars out of 5. There's nothing wrong with it. It's an interesting story with likeable characters and a nice little twist at the end. But I feel like the last two books could have been combined and I would have liked it better and not felt quite as bored at times. It just needed to move a bit faster. Stacey McEwan has another novel coming out in June, Forbidden Alchemy, the first in a series, and I'm not decided about whether I will read it or not based on how the Glacian trilogy played out.

For more from Stacey McEwan, see her website at https://www.staceymcewanbooks.com/

Pairs well with pickled cabbage and knowing what you want... and what you do not.

Review for Chasm by Stacey McEwan - The Glacian Trilogy book 2