Rising: The Red Edition

Slay Rising is the final installment of a four book series by Laurelin Paige, and what a series this was! I am blown away. In Slay Rising, unanswered questions get answered, the final conflict comes to a head, and Edward makes his choice. Will it be Celia, or is avenging the wrongs done to her by others still his top priority? This book is wonderfully written. This series is one of the best of 2019-2020. Laurelin Paige is a master storyteller that can take a character you hate and make you fall in love with her story. This is one series that ranks high on my list of favorites. One that will stay with me for a long time.

I must admit I loved the Slay series over the previous work. I know I needed to read it to really get a feel for this part of the series but I loved this work. It was uniquely drawn and each character was spectacular.

-- I was no longer Edward's little bird. I was a phoenix, and I was rising. --I have just devoured the most phenomenal story that I'll have read this year. Nothing - and I mean absolutely nothing - can change my mind that Rising, the fourth and final book of the Slay Quartet, is not just my favourite read of 2020, but is hands down my favourite Laurelin Paige read... ever.This series has only gotten better and better as the stories continued to come, so I am not surprised whatsoever that this conclusion was an absolute masterpiece.Though I'll be honest, I was more than a little nervous to dive into this story as I had this fear that it wouldn't live up to what I was expecting. It is the final book of this series, yet there was still so much that needed to be touched on: that ending that was delivered in Revenge, Edward's need to avenge Celia, the secrets that still lie between them, the aftermath of Ron, and the fact that we still had that ending in Fixed Forever to touch on - something that I have been waiting for since 2018.A part of me wondered how Laurelin was going to address all of that and more in this last story that is shorter than both Ruin and Revenge are, but takes place over the course of more than a year.But I needn't have worried; just from reading the Prologue alone, I knew Laurelin was going to captivate me with all she would deliver next, and she did just that and more in this story that melted my heart, blew my mind, and left me completely and utterly speechless from beginning to end.Told in a dual POV, Rising does not only take place over the course of a long period of time, but it also overlaps the timelines of both Chandler and Fixed Forever (stories you do not have to read to enjoy this one, though it is a bonus nevertheless). Whilst that might sound like it's too much, I can promise you now that it isn't. There'll obviously be time jumps throughout the course of this story - like there were in Ruin and Revenge - but Laurelin once again navigates them flawlessly and in such a way that I never felt like I was missing anything, nor was I greedy for more.I mean, I'll always want more from Laurelin Paige, but she knew what to deliver to make it relevant to the storyline, to make the story itself flow smoothly, and make it so that it doesn't feel choppy nor like there's too much going on all at once, and it was absolutely perfect.Celia and Edward have come a really long way since Rivalry, and it shows. I went from hating them both, to loving them with every fibre of my being; their growth throughout this series has been flawless and impactful, and their chemistry together was as sizzling and intense as ever. They literally acted like an old married couple in this book - their banter just flowed from the very first page, and more times than not I completely melted at the little intimate moments between them that made me swoon like never before. And those last few chapters... oh my God.The last 15% of this story was a thrill to read. That final showdown between Hudson and Edward... It was everything I didn't know I wanted it to be, and that is all I am saying about that.I went into Rising with a racing heart, butterflies in my belly, and a fear for the unknown; twelve hours later, I came out of Rising with a craving to reread this book already just to experience the wonders of this novel all over again. It's fast-paced, is brilliant and intense, and is a story that is still playing out in my mind as vividly as though I'm still reading it; it's a story that stays with you even after you've reached the last word, and I can confidently say that if you've loved this quartet so far, then I don't think you will be disappointed with Rising - it is truly Laurelin's best work to date.