Review: The Wondrous and the Wicked by Page Morgan

Title: The Wondrous and the Wicked
Author: Page Morgan
Series: The Dispossessed, book #3
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: April 14, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

For fans of Lauren Kate's Fallen series comes the exciting conclusion to the trilogy that includes The Beautiful and the Cursed and The Lovely and the Lost. The Waverly sisters must save themselves before all is lost.

Since the Waverlys arrived in Paris, the streets have grown more fearsome by the day. As Ingrid learns to master her lectrux gift, she must watch Axia's power grow strong enough to extend beyond her Underneath hive. By all indications, the fallen angel's Harvest is near-and the timing couldn't be worse.

Targeted by vengeful gargoyles, Gabby has been exiled to London for her own protection. Meanwhile, the gargoyle castes are in disarray, divided between those who want Luc to lead them and those who resent him and his fondness for humans. The Alliance is crumbling from the inside as well, its members turning against one another, and possibly against the Waverlys, too.

Axia has promised that the world will burn. And now, unable to trust the Alliance, separated from Luc, Gabby, and her twin, Grayson, Ingrid is left to face the demon uprising alone.

Guys, if you haven't started this series yet, you are missing out on one of the most unique shifter stories out there. Forget that comparison to Lauren Kate in the synopsis up there. I liked those books when I didn't know what else was out there, but now I know better. Now I know that there are books like this out there. Books full of heart, great characters and twists that leave me begging for more.

From start to finish, the novels of The Dispossessed series have been on point. I'm not the biggest fan of stories told in third person, especially when there are so many perspectives, but it really works for this series. The large cast of characters makes it nearly impossible not to give the major players a voice. Having insight into so many characters' thoughts and feelings was not only necessary to the plot, but it made me fall for the characters even harder, something I usually only find with first person point-of-view.

The characters have suffered immensely over the course of this series, and that's not about to stop now. There's a lot more hurt to go around, but there's also still hope for them: that they'll overcome ex-angel Axia, that they'll manage their special gifts, that they'll move past the losses they've already endured. There was so much to wrap up in this final installment, but the author resolved it all…if not in a realistic way, at least in a way that made sense to the story at large.

That includes all of those romantic entanglements. I'll be honest, I truly liked both of Ingrid's love interests, and I understood the pull she felt to each. But there was definitely one that I favored over another. I was pretty anxious about how all of that was going to be resolved, but I should have trusted that Ingrid would be her frank, honest self and make things right…and that she'd pick the right guy. *wink* I was also happy to see that the other Waverly siblings got their shot at love, too, even in the midst of the turmoil they were facing. Those two romances weren't quite as intense as what Ingrid was faced with, but they burned no less brighter, and I reveled in their inclusion in this series.

Some might find the ending a bit too easy but not this girl. Not after everything these characters have been through. Things that might normally bother me in a story were easy to rationalize away when it comes to the Waverlys, the Alliance, and my favorite gargoyle. I honestly don't think I could have asked for a better end for these characters. Well…I might have changed one or two things, but then the overall impact of the novel's end would have been lessened and it wouldn't have been the same.

I really wish this series got the attention it deserves. I mean, it's a pretty high-octane story featuring shape-shifting gargoyle protectors in a gothic Paris overrun with demons and an English family that finds themselves right in the thick of things. What more could you want? And the fact that it's solid from beginning to end doesn't hurt either. I am seriously over the moon with how this final book finished out the series: equal parts daring, romantic, and flat-out thrilling. I can't wait to see what Page Morgan writes next!

GIF it to me straight:

Gasping gargoyles! Lots of surprises in this one!!!

About the author:

Page Morgan has been intrigued by les grotesques ever since she came across an old, black-and-white photograph of a Notre Dame gargoyle keeping watch over the city of Paris. The gargoyle mythologies she went on to research fed her imagination, and she became inspired to piece together her own story and mythology for these complex stone figures. Page lives in New England with her husband and their three children.

Find Page:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest