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Synopsis

The unforgettable conclusion to the epic fantasy The Four Keys series from author J.C. Lucas.

The end of the war is upon them, and the fate of the Fae and human world rests on one girl’s shoulders. An old god has gathered his forces—and planted a Trojan horse in their midst. The enemy’s plan to control the world has been revealed, but unexpected circumstances might alter the course of fate.

Andie and her friends are in the ultimate race against time and evil. They must find the last Key before all is lost. Battle lines will be forged, remarkable alliances cast, and the prophecy is still as strong as ever.

Victory doesn’t come without sacrifice. Love doesn’t come without pain.

Not all who fight will survive, but in the end, it will come down to the choices of one teenage Queen, the magical factions, and the Titan gods.

Review

Darkness filled me up, no matter how much I tried to push it down. Fear that it would consume me was my new normal.
I tried to pretend that all was right with the world, that I could do and be all the things that everyone wanted of me… but the oily blackness that slithered inside of me had other plans.

Freya has been defeated, but the war is far from over. The real enemy was always Helios. Now they must not only find a way to defeat him, but it must be fast as the darkness that Andie absorbed from Freya is gaining ground and can turn Andie into a perfect Trojan horse.

I don’t know how I knew, but if I let my guard down for one minute, it would take over. Helios had found a way to set up a Trojan horse.
And that horse is me.

As if that wasn’t enough, Andie has become the queen of the Fae. Now she must earn the respect of all the other leaders to gain their support in the fight against Helios. Being a 17-year-old girl, the task was already ridiculously difficult, but the darkness that is now inside her does not help at all (even less when she gets goth attacks ?).

Fortunately, she still has the support of her friends and family. As well as the bond between her and Hunter that helps her keep the darkness (relatively) under control. But they will need all the help possible to defeat Helios and his allies, starting with preventing him from finding the 4 Stones of his crown. The four Keys will be crucial, but the darkness inside Andie may be what tips the scales. The point is… which way?

“We know the last Key is the Spear of Lugh. I’ve actually given it a new name though, the Spear of Victory. Because I know that finding this last Key will help lead us to victory. I want you all to keep that in mind as we go on this journey.”

Reading The Four Keys serie was really living the story for me. This particular book, I read it at a snail’s pace because I really didn’t want it to end. Also, I couldn’t read much at night because it left my neurons so active that I couldn’t sleep ?.

The characters are wonderful. I really like that, even though the fate of the world is on the shoulders of a 17-year-old girl (like a good fantasy book ?‍♀️), Andie never stops remembering it.

“I need to go home. There’s a book at the Oak that I need to find. Please don’t ask me how I know, because I honestly can’t tell you, but I need to find it”

She has become very strong and will never give up, but it doesn’t mean that she has stopped being who she is and being afraid of the responsibility that she was given, despite having accepted it. Her heart is so big that I suffered greatly doubting whether or not she would be consumed by darkness.

The darkness licked inside. As the calls from the demons around me grew louder, it seemed to call back, rising inside of me past the point that I could push it down.

Andie and Hunter’s relationship is really wonderful, but coooooooorny (Warning, the sweetness in this book can lead to diabetes ?).

As I retraced my steps back downstairs, haunting music reached me. It floated on the air and I felt myself following the melody. It wasn’t that long ago that I’d taken the same hallway and heard the same music. This time, the sadness of it didn’t get to me because I knew at the end of the day we’d always be together. I pushed open the tall door to see the guy who always took my breath away. His fingers flew over the keys on the piano, and his emotions flowed freely on his face as he concentrated. I vowed right then that wherever we stayed must have a piano for him to play.

In fact, Hunter turned out to be a romantic softie who just looks like a bad boy. Although with alpha male instincts. Translation? I love him.

My eyes teared up, and I laughed in happiness. “I feel like we’re reciting vows or something.”
His eyes bored into mine, and his expression turned serious. “It was a vow, Andie. And I’ll make many more through this lifetime. We may not be married, but you are mine, and I am yours. Forever.”

But the other characters are not far behind. Celeste, Killian, and of course Emric and Charlie, among others.

“You trying to get yourself killed once again, my girl?” Emric asked with dry humor.
“Yep. Can’t seem to stay away from it.” I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue.

It made me laugh because from the previous books I was hating Pres and Teagan. And in this one, it took Pres half a second to completely win me over again, especially after taking Andie on a spa day ?. This is another thing that I loved about this book. Everyone knows that the battle of their lives is coming, but precisely for this they strive to have normal activities like dating, the characters really deserve it.

Andie’s growth is exactly how I imagine mine if I had fallen into a fantastic story ?. In all the books of this style the main character, the chosen one, must learn to survive in this new reality, with new powers, but it’s common that they master them relatively quickly. Whereas in this case I remember that I disliked the first book at first because of how useless Andie was. She was almost killed by a flower… Twice ? (actually in this book she was almost killed by a flower too, so I guess there are things that never change ?‍♀️). This is why her growth became more valuable and more realistic to me.

I had no idea what we were going to do, how we would get him back. But just as always, I was determined. One way or the other we’d save the world and save him too.

Basically I infinitely recommend this saga. It is nice to find a story that is exactly my style again, as it was for me with Harry Potter and Idhún’s Memories. Also, while the story is closed, J.C. left some open points, which I hope will one day lead to a new book on this story.

Love wasn’t something to waste, especially now. With all of the turmoil and unknowns that we faced; it was high time that we all lived like each day was the last. To love like we might lose it the next hour. Heck, even the next minute.
I would never take anyone I cared about for granted ever again.

The last thing I have to say about this book, but the most important thing to me, is that now I know how Mike Wazowski felt because I’M ON THE COVER! (Actually in the acknowledgments, but you get the idea ?).

But outside of jokes, when I started reviewing the books I read, my intention was to recommend books to others. But never in my life did I imagine that I could meet and contact authors directly, much less that it was possible that my opinion had as much impact on them as their stories had on me.

Feeling that you are making an impact on an author’s career, no matter how small, is truly magnificent. And it is what motivates me to continue with the blog and the bookstagram and try to improve day by day.

Infinite thanks to J.C. Lucas, because, not only has she written one of my new favorite sagas with some of the characters that have touched my heart the most, but she has made me feel that my effort is worth it. She is an incredible inspiration and meeting her is truly one of the best things that has happened to me thanks to the literary community.

Author

J.C. Lucas lives in Texas with her husband. She has three beautiful sons and one sweet as sugar grandson. J.C. grew up writing fantasy stories and dreaming of the day when she could share them with the world. Now you can find her wielding a sword (well, a pen, but that’s beside the point,) and weaving magical stories full of mythological creatures, witches, fairies, and romance.
J.C. is an avid reader of many genres, loves to garden, and cuddle with her mini dachshunds. Coffee, wine, dark chocolate, and guacamole are some of her favorite indulgences.
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Bye bye 💕

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