Crystal Crowned (Air Awakens) - Fantasy Book Series for Young Adults | Perfect for Reading, Book Clubs & Gifts

Another amazing series has come to a close. More friends whose adventures are over. Another world I want to be, gone. I am not ready for this. I just found this series less than a year ago. I have not had the time I need to prepare for this. No matter how long I pushed back reading this book it was still ending. With that in mind, I picked up this book, tearing up every time I looked at it.There may be spoilers for this book and the previous books.The romance throughout this series was an epic adventure. The love these two characters had for each other was unimaginable. They were flawed, bloodied, and broken. Yet somehow they found peace in each other. They were far from perfect; at times they were down right terrifying."Because our love is more than something I can wear. Our time is far greater than what can be counted by two hands and some numbers. "Vhalla was an infinitely frustrating character throughout the entire sires. She was strong, weak, intelligent and impatient. Most of all she was real and relatable. She was one of the best main characters I have read in a YA series. There were times when she lost sight of who she was, of who her friends were. Those were the hardest parts for me to read. I could feel her pain, everyone's pain. I understood why she felt that way, the things she went through were awful. She was a commons, a sorcerer, a puppet, a solider, and a leader. Vhalla found herself in her trials. Once she did she flourished.The Fire Lord was a complex man. The way he developed through the series was astounding. Aldrik was the perfect imperfect character. Because of him my standards for YA male characters have been set to an unreachable high. Vhalla had to remind him that his people were the most important, more so than her. When his empire needed him, he was their. No mater how he felt about everything happening, his people came first.Jax was my favorite character in this book, maybe even the series. I find that I am always drawn to the grief filled, tarnished ones. The broken shells of who they once were. He pulled at my heart. When a character is so beautifully crafted that their pains become your own, this is one of the signs of an amazing author."Jax's voice shifted from the laughing playboy to the broken man she knew lived beneath"Fritz and Elicia are the friends every one wishes to find. So supportive, caring and understanding. Fritz never held back, he understood what Vhalla needed more than anyone. He was always there for her. Elicia hid under a veil of disinterest. Once she let Vhalla in she became a sister of sorts. The person Vhalla always turned to when she did not know who to trust."What are we fighting for?" Vhalla closed her eyes for a moment but all she saw was blood. Blood of her allies. Blood of her enemies. Enough blood to drown in ten times over. "What will be left when the wars are done?"Crystal Crowned was darker than anything I expected. Blood. War. Death. Despair. These themes were in every book, but the way they were expressed in Crystal Crowned was different. Stronger and more vivid. The monsters they faced represented the darkest place a man can go. How power-hungry people care for nothing but death.My heart is in pieces after this book. The only thing that kept me sane while finishing this book was the epilogue. I have never read anything so beautiful.