The Black Key (The Lone City #3)

"The Black Key" is an intense finale to the Lone City trilogy. Violet has escaped the city and is training other surrogates about their powers and the legacy of the Palladin. I read the second book right after its release, so I wasn't sure if I would remember enough to delve into the third book without rereading the first two. However, Ewing does a fantastic job of taking the reader by the hand and reminding them about the events in earlier books without overdoing it. This book really focuses on the battle and leaves the personal insights and romance behind. This book is about a revolution and we get peeks of the larger battles looming, as we are still focusing on Violet. Overall, I thought it was a good end to a strong series.

The Black Key was the last book in The Lone City series and picked up soon after the cliffhanger from the second book. There seemed like it had so many things to wrap up in such a short time and I was unsure of how it would play out. If some things would be left unresolved, if some things would barely get a mention, if everything would feel too rushed. Other than the ending feeling a bit overstuffed, I thought it was well-paced and managed to do a good job in addressing all the loose ends that needed to be addressed.

I did think the book may have benefited from the occasional glimpse into another character’s POV. Violet was cut off from most of her rebellion group in her position so it would have been nice to see a chapter from Lucien’s POV, or Raven’s or Ash’s, just to get the whole picture on what was happening outside of The Jewel.

This book showed Violet as she was at her core: a protective and loving sister. She was going to find Hazel and save her at any cost. She was so important to the rebellion, one of its leaders, but her sister still came first and it was something I could fully understand, as someone with siblings. There was a part of me that thought she was being reckless, since she has no real plan, but I understood her need for immediate action. It was her sister.

It was a fast read. The action was well-paced so I didn’t want to stop reading. It was only near the end when it started to become a little too fast to keep up, requiring me to slow down my reading pace in order to hopefully catch everything. I also liked that, while it definitely felt like the end of Violet and Ash’s story, there were many other characters who could have their own spin-off if this world was ever revisited.