Fearless (The Avena Series) Paperback – International Edition, November 3, 2015

I’ve managed to finish yet another series!! It’s a great feeling of accomplishment I tell you! It’s been wayyy too long since I last read Marianne Curley’s Avena trilogy and I pretty much just dove into Fearless without having any memory of the past two books. Although, I found I wasn’t struggling so much. It almost felt natural just to be back in this world and reading. Granted, I had trouble with remembering the characters, but I quickly caught up to speed with the key points!So things pick up where they left off…which was slightly problematic for me, but basically Ebony, an angel who has yet to come into her powers or regain her memory from her time as an angel (and yeah things get a little sticky in that area, but naturally I was just rolling with it) has been kidnapped by Prince Luca, the bad guy. Luca is the king of Skade and he intends to make her his queen, and to ensure this he has sealed the gates so that no one can come in or go out. And the lock is sealed for 100 years. But Nathaneal is not going to let that stop him from rescuing his one true love.Luca is one seriously skeevy guy. Not to mention evil, but he’s pretty much mapped out Ebony’s life for her. And he wants her to bear his children as well, so that essentially, after going through a few hoops, he will rule the world! But Ebony isn’t so easy to break and bend to his will, which I give her mad props for that. But yet, I found myself getting a tad annoyed that she wasn’t fighting back more. It’s more of a personal thing. I have an attitude one could say, lol. And if someone was telling me that he was basically going to force me to have his children in just a few short years…you can bet there would be profanity involve…possibly even violence. I would be more defiant and likely suffer the consequences later. While Ebony does have some bite to her, I just wished she would’ve had just a little bit more edge to it.In the meantime we have Thane (Nathaneal) working hard to come up with a plan that will save Ebony and bring her home. He gets a magical object that can easily open a hole in the gates, the problem is closing it. The only sure fire way of closing that hole so none of the evils can get out, is basically a human sacrifice. Thane wants to use the magical object as it’s the only way of getting INTO Skade, but he needs to find a different solution to closing said hole.The climax, the whole battle of good versus evil felt a little rushed as well. It seemed that within a blink of my eyes it was over before it really started. I mean, you expect the winners, obviously, but still to see it all just blip out like that was a little disheartening. Especially since there was still another 75 pages to go! And the majority of those pages were kind of drawn out. The climax has been reached and after a chapter or two of closure, you’d think it be over, but it wasn’t. The goodbyes were kind of getting drawn out, though we did see some more character growth in those last few chapters, I just felt like things should’ve been more rearranged so that there wasn’t so much happening after the big battle. Granted, I do see why none of the other things could happen before said battle, it makes sense. But from a reader standpoint I guess I just thought and felt like the story was done after those closing moments post-battle. Sorry if I’m rambling and not making sense! It sounds better in my head, honestly!The romance in this one was both brief and touching. Although I’ve forgotten all the reasons why I should love Thane, I couldn’t help but not get as swept away by everything. Granted I did enjoy it, but I guess it’s my whole memory issue and probably why I should’ve re-read the first two books so I could remember why Thane was swoonworthy! LOL! There were other relationship developments too and oddly I was more than happy to get behind those with my little memory! LOL!However minor my issues were with this book, I did find myself enjoying it a lot! It just reminded me of the magic that is Marianne Curley! She was one of the first time-traveling books I read and though this one doesn’t have that, it still has that same kind of magical touch to it that I fiercely enjoyed from before! Fearless was an extraordinary story, even if I couldn’t remember how I got to this point at the beginning, it was still a most enjoyable read!Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Ebony and Nathaneal have overcome so much to be together but their happily ever after will have to wait. The Dark Prince and ruler of Skade has taken Ebony and imprisoned her in his realm. With all entries and exits to Skade sealed for a century, it seems Ebony and Thane's love story is at an end. Not willing to lose her after just finding her again, Thane is willing to do whatever it takes to have Ebony in his arms again. And Ebony isn't going to be an angelic damsel in distress - she will take on the devil himself to find her way back to Thane and the home she was taken from.The Avena series by Marianne Curley has been a pleasure to read. Fearless, the third and final book in the trilogy, delivers all the drama and excitement of the previous two novels and so much more. Ebony has grown so much since we first met her in Hidden. She's overcome learning her heavenly history as well as her long complicated and romantic history with Thane. She isn't going to let being held captive by a dark Prince defeat her. One of the things I liked best about Ebony was her attitude. She is a fighter yet she is not infallible. The direness of her situation isn't lost on her and despite her best efforts to stay positive, Ebony is aware of the worst case scenario. New character Mela was a great addition to the story as was her connections to the overall plot.As with the previous two books, the settings are great. Seeing Skade through Ebony's eyes was fantastic. There's enough detail to bring the place to life and I loved how vivid it was. Thane's part of the story was as captivating as Ebony's with his pain at being torn apart from her being palpable. Trying to balance his role as an Angel at the same time as planning a rescue mission weighed on him and it was nice to see his struggle and the human emotions it brought out in him. Jordan, Amber as well as a cast of angels all help bring this story to a climax. This is definitely one of those books which takes a little while to get going. The first half of this book is a little slow but the details and story is necessary for the action to really get ramped up in the second half.Fearless is a brilliant conclusion to the series. There's drama and romance, heroes and villains, all tied together in a thrilling story. Beautifully written with vivid descriptions and interesting characters, Fearless is a must for fans of YA paranormal romance. After reading the Avena series - Marianne Curley has a fan for life in me and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Ebony was kidnapped and held a prisoner in hell at the end of the previous book in the series. With all ways to and from Skade closed and sealed, Nathaneal has very little chance of getting to Ebony to save her. However, he is not willing to give up. On the other hand Ebony is set on freeing herself from both hell and its prince. Will the two lovers be able to overcome all the hurdles put in their way and finally reunite? Or will the Dark Prince and his plans prevail?Ebony finally redeemed herself to me. Oh she does whine here and there, but her fighting spirit finally shines through. I still feel that she could have ‘done’ more if she really tried. It seems that she finally accepted the truth about who she is and has become her own person. Prince Luca, the dark prince, has his charms on and he almost made me believe in him – though I do not know if it was his persuasive nature or my wish for some twist in the tale! Jordan was Jordan and I will not comment on him at all. Nathaneal felt somewhat real to me among all the characters.I am kind of glad that this is the final book in the series. The premise and the setting was really good and the author has done a good job of describing certain settings and situation. But the plot and the characters were somewhat disappointing. Even Nathaneal, the character that I think was the best in the series has failed to make an impression on me. I love flawed characters but they should have some redeeming qualities. None of the characters in the books felt remotely ‘real’ and I failed to connect with them completely. The plot felt too simple and very predictable. There wasn’t even a single twist.For the world setting, this series is okay for a one time read.

I am a massive Marianne Curley fan (having read all her books as a teen and now as a ya) and have been waiting for the final book since I devoured the last one! She didn't disappoint at all! The story is gripping and pulls you in from the first page! The great thing is I had no idea how the plot would unravel and there were so many twists and turns...sigh..it was amazing!! I feel sad to have finished it just because the series has now come to an end!! Extremely well written and she ties up all loose ends which makes it a satisfying read! I really hope you continue to write more series Marianne!