The end of Beyond the Shadows is coming up next week and everything will finally come together. It’s all so nerve-racking!

*As a reminder, we’re both doing giveaways for this trilogy. If you haven’t entered already, you can do so on our introduction post.

**The following may contain spoilers for The Way of Shadows and Shadow’s Edge.

 

Did anything surprise you in this section?

{Diana} Actually, there were several things, but TWO things flat out shocked me. First, there’s The Wheel. Not only could I not believe how incredibly, horrifyingly brutal it was, but I absolutely could not believe who was using it on whom (or is it whom was using it on who??? Whatever.)!!!! And then there was the truth behind Kylar’s immortality. Jaw, meet Floor. For real.

{Heather} I was pretty surprised by one scene with Dorian. I honestly did not see him ever doing something like that to keep himself and Jenine safe and to keep everyone thinking he was the rightful Godking. I wish Grakaat Kruhn wouldn’t have challenged Dorian like that then Dorian wouldn’t have had to do what he did.

 

Who was your favorite character in this section?

{Diana} In a surprising turn of events, I’m going to go with Vi. That girl has shown some serious growth in this book! That thing that she did for Kylar and Elene should definitely qualify her for sainthood.

{Heather} I’ll definitely agree with Diana about Vi growing in this book. She is becoming one of my favorite characters overall, but for this round I’ll have to say Logan is my favorite character because he is so sassy as king. I love how he just takes charge, and I’m hoping everything works out for him.

 

Who was your least favorite character?

{Diana} For lack of a better response, I’m going to say the Wolf. I still don’t entirely know what he’s up to and therefore don’t trust him as far as I could throw him into Ezra’s Wood.

{Heather} Elene all the way! I cannot stand this girl, and I’m mad that Kylar still wants to be with her even with the whole Vi thing. I’m rooting for Kylar and Vi to get together and for Elene to just disappear. Shoo, Elene!

 

What was your favorite quote or passage?

{Diana} My favorite quote this week comes from Heather’s favorite wetboy 🙂

“There’s no guarantee that justice will win out or that a noble sacrifice will make any difference. But when it does, there’s something that still swells my chest. There’s magic in that. Deep magic. It tells me that’s the way things are supposed to be.”

{Heather} Yes! My favorite wetboy! My favorite quote is from Logan when he is explaining to Lantano Garuwashi why he makes certain decisions.

“I knew this kid, small kid, nothing to look at. Someone picked on him once, and he flew at the guy like he’d lost his mind.”

“Did the little kid win?”

“He got destroyed. But no one picked on that little kid again, because he approached every harassment as if his life depended on winning. There were no rules in a fight with him. He didn’t care how badly he got hurt. He would win. I was always bigger and stronger than other kids, but I would fight fair and stop when someone conceded victory. I had to fight a lot more than he did.”

I just love this metaphor because it makes a lot of sense why Logan is responding to others a certain way. He tries to prove he will not be stepped on and pushed aside. I also really love how the conversation continues because you get to see that while Logan is a great king, he is still new to everything and worries if he is making the right decisions for his people. He is just all around awesome.

 

What do you think will happen next?

{Diana} Sooooo, I kinda already finished reading the book and I may have forgotten to make a note of what my prediction was when I got to the end of this section. I’m just going to leave this one up to Heather 😉

{Heather} Ahh, I need to know what happens next. This is driving me crazy. I’m really hoping that Elene dies, even though that is terrible to say, but boo on her. She needs to go away. Kylar needs to figure his life out, and I want Vi to find happiness. I’m hoping Dorian can rule the Khalidorians effectively without compromising who he is. There are just too many things I want to find out! I’m so nervous about the ending!