Lightbringer (The Empirium Trilogy, 3)

TW: violence, tortureFirst off, why can't I give this more than 5 stars? Just wondering.I absolutely love Rielle. She's hands-down my favorite character in this series because I love stories about heroes-turned-villains who walk that line between good and evil. Watching her descent into darkness and her journey beyond her humanity was kind of incredible? I honestly wish that more YA books were willing to delve into this morally-grey territory with their heroines, because it makes the narrative just so much richer and more fascinating.God, I was so anxious during this story. The whole Empirium trilogy is such a rare treat in YA Fantasy because it absolutely does not follow conventional YA tropes and works with so much scope and nuance. Certainly, you know that some plot beats are inevitable: Rielle will turn dark and resurrect angels (because it was already foreseen in Eliana's timeline) and Eliana will bring light back to the darkness (because that's what chosen one's do). Beyond that, though, I can hardly guess what comes next, and I can't trust Legrand to NOT kill any of my faves.Eliana's story has always been less interesting to me because she's more of a classic antihero-turned-hero YA chosen one, but I just have to praise Legrand's structuring because her journey parallels Rielle's so well. Her suffering and growth were developed wonderfully and I was quite proud of how far she'd come since Furyborn. I was actively rooting for her every step of the way.Some side relationships feel forced or out of the blue, and sometimes it feels like there are too many POVs to the point where I want to hurry up and skip back to Rielle/Eliana. That being said, the depth of emotion and pain and grief feels incredibly raw. People make the wrong choices and people suffer the consequences. There are genuine stakes in this story and that gets me really engrossed. Furthermore, Legrand's writing is just so good. Such gorgeous and vivid prose all around.Fun fact, there's so much casual rep in this world and I just think that's neat. Queer and/or POC kings and queens and rebels and pirates. Plus two bisexual queens as our protagonists. I'm not sure if there was disabled rep, but there was certainly a lot of thoughtful portrayal of mental health issues that I found refreshing to read.I really hope that Legrand continues to write in this world, honestly. I still have so many questions about the time of the saints, and about whatever potential story could come from the ending now that the possibilities seem endless. Nevertheless, I feel that this really is the sort of tale that could be Legrand's magnum opus, and knowing that this is the story she'd been nurturing for 16 years makes so much sense because there has been so much love and care put into crafting this series.

A round of applause for the conclusion to the Empirium Trilogy. Claire Legrand executed a very satisfying and bittersweet finale. Lightbringer was always going to be a tough finale book because there were so many elements that needed to wrapped up. I do believe Legrand did an excellent job in doing so. I will forever miss these characters and this world. As this is a finale to a series, spoilers are highly unavoidable but I will do my best.Lightbringer picks up almost immediately after the conclusion of Kingsbane and certainly takes off slowly. However, the slow pace at the beginning to me is justified. The reason being is that where the characters left off wasn't something you could just rectify quickly. There was a lot of threads that were still being wrapped up. Plus there were even some plot threads being woven still. The most brilliant part of this entire series is how effortlessly Legrand deals with the time travel aspect. Normally time travel plot lines follow a script and Lightbringer does follow. But Legrand puts her own touch into it as well to keep it fresh and new.Rielle and Eliana were always two different leading ladies. I always found myself loving one over the other. In Lightbringer, I found myself loving them both. Rielle and Eliana's character development is top notch. You can physically see a difference in both these ladies from start to finish. It is something I love to see in the stories I read. Lightbringer is also the first book in the series to fully incorporate a multi POV storytelling mechanic. Yes Kingsbane filtered in a couple chapters here and there, but Lightbringer gives everyone ample time to shine.I always love and fear when a series finally wraps up because I want to be happy and satisfied. I can without a doubt say Lightbringer gives me just that feeling. I am so proud of Claire Legrand and this story. Although I am sad to be leaving the world of the Empirium, I look forward to whatever comes next from Claire Legrand.

i did not expect to love this series as much as i do, nor to be so affected by it."Come, my glorious tormentor."i love how the author wrote such strong female friendships and relationships in this series, lots of normalized queer relationships, original mythology, intriguing world-building excerpts for each chapter, and an epic story about time, power, and love.shout out to ilmaire for being a side character who, for barely being onpage, had me cheering for him like no one else lol.“You were everything that night. You were the entire world, and I was safe inside you. For once, I felt safe.”simon + eliana <3it was hard to say goodbye to this story, but i hope the middlemist trilogy is just as enjoyable (if not more)!

This story reminded me of Thrones of Glass series. It’s a good book to get you out of the funk after reading that series. The story line and the world building is amazing I loved it.

The way I read this in two days. This series got better with each book, I can’t believe it came to an end 🥲