Last Strand by Jennifer Estep
Elemental Assassin #19
Urban Fantasy
March 16, 2021 Self Published
Review by Angela
Favorite Quote:
But this was the life I had built, the one I had chosen for myself, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So I returned to my book with a smile on my face, my knives tucked up my sleeves, and more peace in my heart than I’d felt in a long, long time.
My name is Gin, and I kill people.
Always and forever.
This is it y’all, the last Gin Blanco adventure… at least for a while it seems.
I was kind of expecting it, and yet I’m still a bit sad to see this series arc end. When you follow a series through nineteen books, and at least two major plot arcs, you absolutely end up falling in love with those characters and the world they live in. I adore Gin Blanco. I love her while she’s in her persona as The Spider, Ashland’s most notorious do-gooder assassin, I love her when she’s slinging barbeque onto plates in the Pork Pit, and I love her when she’s cooking up big homestyle meals for her found and chosen family all because food is her love language and Gin really does have a big heart.
This is Gin’s last big hurrah. This is the book where Ms. Estep finally sets Gin against her greatest enemy, her uncle. Mason Mitchell is head of the Circle and the man who ripped her world apart one blood-soaked night. He’s strong, maybe the strongest foe she has ever faced, but Gin won’t let that stop her from putting him away, once and for all.
She has a great group of allies on her side and ready to go to war with her. Finn, Bria, Owen, Silvio, Phillip, Xavier, Roslyn, Lorelei, Jo-Jo, and Sophia are her constants and they remain so in Last Strand. And it’s a good thing since it will take all of them to defeat this enemy.
I can honestly say I really loved the way this author chose to give this series its send-off. Last Strand had all the things I’ve come to appreciate in this series from the edge of your seat action scenes to great witty banter between all of the characters. Gin is still cooking up big meals for everyone before they head out to enact their plans to stop the bad guys and still dreaming of Fletcher and past jobs… which always lead to her figuring out the best way to move forward in present day. All the loose plot threads throughout the series were wrapped up nicely and I really feel like Ms. Estep left Gin and the gang in a good place. Nineteen books later and Gin has finally defeated all the people that destroyed her family and is finally at peace with her place in Ashland.
I’m going to miss having a new release from this series on the regular. Since writing the bulk of this review I’ve seen Ms. Estep comment on social media that she has plans to visit with some of the secondary characters in novellas and short stories and that makes me happy.
Final grade- B
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