ARC Review: The Beyond by Chloe Neill

Series:	Devil's Isle #4
Pub. Date:	June 4, 2019
Publisher:	Berkley
Length:	336 pgs
Source:	NetGalley

It's always a happy-sad moment when you come to the end of a series, and The Beyond, the final installment of the Devil's Isle series, is no exception. After living in New Orleans (and moving away a couple years ago), Devil's Isle has held a special place in my heart. Chloe Neill is also an author who does New Orleans right... even though Devil's Isle is somewhat post-magical apocalypse, Neill is spot on with her New Orleans layout and history. I have loved her re-imagining of New Orleans in this series.

In this final installment, Claire Connolly and her crew are working to wrap things up and save New Orleans once and for all. But not only does the team have to deal with evil faeries (the Seelies a/k/a Consularis), apathetic faeries (the Court), and also a huge hurricane (Hurricane Frieda) that is bearing down on the city. This will require all the team to come back together, and it was so nice seeing some characters who were missing from the last installment.

I also loved seeing the peek into The Beyond (Elysium or Faery). I am a huge fan of the fae stories and my favorite aspects are always the fantastical land. While we haven't see much of The Beyond in this series, I did enjoy the opportunity to see Malachi's homeland and watch him stand up to his former peers. How the Court has handled fae society following the former war was interesting, and offered a chance for some social commentary and allowed us to be judgy about how the took and/or failed to take. I thought Malachi handled the situation perfectly, and I'm still hoping to see a spinoff with his character (and maybe a love interest!).

Despite the magical mayhem bearing down on the city, Claire and Liam strengthened their relationship and, while not steamy, gave us a squeal-worthy moment or two. I have loved these two together throughout the series, but got a little disappointed with Liam in the last book, so I was so happy to see him stepping up in this last book. I was also happy to see Claire being more receptive to commitment and the future.

While I'm sad to see the series end, I thought everything was wrapped up quite nicely. I did think the battle was a tad bit rushed, and would have liked to see that a little more detailed and developed. But I liked that everyone had their part to play and got a little face time with the reader for the last book. I really hope we get a spinoff for this one (hint hint Chloe!).

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher.

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