Wicked by Karina Espinosa ....its the shelves Friday, June 5th. But here is a short clip about the end of this really good read.

 

If you believe being immortal will give you all the time you will ever need to fix whatever is wrong in your world, you may find that time slips away from you without anything ever being accomplished. Change has come to Joey’s world and not for the better. She isn’t dead, good. She has become an immortal, not so good. The Seelie Queen has promised to help her, good; when she is ready and not a moment before, not so good.  

So how do we find Joey after she has saved the Supes from the Compound and the Humans United? Just at the moment of their freedom, at the stroke of midnight Joey turned twenty-six years old.  She became immortal, unloved, hated by those who had once cared so for her. With no true understanding of a way to break the curse, returning herself to just plain human and restoring the love she lost, the friendships and no means of prodding the Seelie Queen to reveal the secrets to breaking the curse, Joey has spent quiet weeks in the Seelie Garden away from all that she knew and those for whom she cared. Reed is once again on track to marry Ava, who can’t wait to drag him down the aisle. Even her friends are indifferent to her as if she barely registers with them. Elliott still sees her as part of the Pact and as such she must attend the meetings, offer her input on ways to protect her people and join any battles that may come.

When we are at our lowest, there may be help from some unexpected places. A single blue butterfly hovers over Joey in the Seelie Garden…and speaks to her briefly of hope. Then Levi, with whom she spent agonizing days in the Compound, has offered to help her. He was never a fan of Joey’s but now that hatred has somehow passed. He can clearly see the strangeness of the others around him and the way they are reacting to her. He listens when Joey tries to tell him humans are plotting to round up and destroy all the Supes. That the promises of a shared world with humans and Supes are shadowed in lies and treachery. Levi and Joey will work together to find a way to persuade the leaders of the Supes to take cautions and find answers before they agree to follow the human’s lead. Perhaps with a little help from the undead? What of the Fae?

There may be help from another source as well, as Reed is starting to have dreams/glimpses of his life before with Joey, while Ava is beginning to wear on him. But a dark entity is on the horizon and if it is awakened, all could be lost to Joey. Beware the Fae that holds out a hand to help.

The conclusion of the Joey Santana series has all the twists, turns, secrets, unexpected friendships and surprises of the first three books. I sat on the edge of my chair, just bargaining with the gods, for five minutes with Ava under my hands at her throat, a frying pan to knock Reed in the head and a chance to run with the Supes as they battled the humans. This series gave me hours of grand tales, friends, those I wish could be part of my family, enemies I really wanted to have a go at, scary times and sheer bouts of hatred for the bureaucracy. The ending is rich and complete. In some way, I would hope Katrina Espinosa might revisit Joey and Reed’s world. But I am happy their story has been fulfilled.