{Book Review} The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas

Synopsis:

In a pursuit that has spanned continents, Iolanthe, Titus, and their friends have always managed to remain one step ahead of the forces of Atlantis. But now the Bane, the monstrous tyrant who bestrides the entire mage world, has issued his ultimatum: Titus must hand over Iolanthe, or watch as his entire realm is destroyed in a deadly rampage. Running out of time and options, Iolanthe and Titus must act decisively to deliver a final blow to the Bane, ending his reign of terror for good.

However, getting to the Bane means accomplishing the impossible—finding a way to infiltrate his crypt in the deepest recesses of the most ferociously guarded fortress in Atlantis. And everything is only made more difficult when new prophecies come to light, foretelling a doomed effort…

Iolanthe and Titus will put their love and their lives on the line. But will it be enough?

With The Immortal Heights, Sherry Thomas brings the acclaimed Elemental Trilogy to its breathtaking conclusion.

The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1) Review | The Perilous Sea (The Elemental Trilogy #2) Review

This series has been an absolute delight to read; while there are some very serious conflicts and horrible bad guys, on the whole, the tone is a little more whimsical and light than many of your Epic/High fantasies, even for YA.

I love Titus and Iolanthe. They have such a refreshing relationship for YA; they are both quite brave, intelligent, humorous, and they rely on one another, especially in this book. Their relationship doesn’t tend to suffer from inane drama, and even the really bad situations tend to work themselves out in a more mature way. I never get tired of reading about them. Their romance is adorable as ever here; if you are looking for a lighter YA Fantasy with a heavy emphasis on the romance, this is the series for you.

So you know how in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows you get to this place where you think, ‘Rowling’s going to have to kill Harry. But she can’t actually kill Harry.’ There was this weird tension because you just knew he had to die, but you couldn’t believe she’d actually do it. That’s how I felt in The Immortal Heights. Because of the prophecies concerning Titus and Iolanthe’s deaths, I didn’t have any clue how Sherry Thomas was going to play it out. They’ve always assumed they (or at least Titus) was going to die; there wasn’t much discussion otherwise. But I also couldn’t believe that Thomas would really write the ending that way, knowing the tone of the rest of the books, which tended to be lighter and more optimistic.

Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say I…appreciated the way everything turned out.

Anyway. We get to see a lot more of the Domain and Atlantis in this book, as our heroes spend most of their time trying to save the mage world and everyone in it. Gone are the sunny days at Eton of the first two books; there is far more action and near-death experiences here. There was a section in the middle where we were sort of getting a really long history lesson about different people that I got a teensy bit bored during (which is the main reason I gave this book 4.5 stars rather than a full 5). But aside from that, the tension is sky high, and death does indeed take some familiar faces.

The showdown with the Bane is not disappointing at all. I raced through those last pages on the edge of my seat, wondering how in the world it was all going to turn out.

I was quite sad when I finished this book simply because it’s such a wonderful series and I was sad to see it end. I think The Immortal Heights is the best developed of the series, with the most detail, and you really get a good feel for the mage world in this one. Iolanthe remains a strong and likable heroine, with Titus as a dashing and noble hero at her side. I highly recommend this series for anyone who likes a good Fantasy story with a lovely romance added in.

Content: Some disturbing images, kissing, some language. Recommended for 15+