I hope that you have all had a good March! (and fabulous st patrick’s day π )
At least here in the USA, we’ve been having winter (which lemme tell ya, it has been one wild ride), so celebrating moving on to spring, I have on final wintery tale to give you!
Bitter Winter (Jaye L Knight) is the most recent (and fifth) installment in the Ilyon Chronicles. This Christain (nonmagic) fantasy series has been absolutely amazing and I am crying that there is only one book left. But before I get too weepy, let’s carry on!

(reviews: book 0.5, book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4)

Likes:
Okay, so, um, LOTSA Jace!!! It’s mainly narrated by him, and honestly, I adored that. π
But yeah. We have a whole lot of tension in this book because, as it was said in the synopsis: we have an entirely devastating illness. MY HEART WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THIS. I WAS READY FOR ALL THE FANGIRL EMOTIONS. NOT ALL THE TEARS.
Don’t worry, though! There were still a ton of fangirl moments … so that’s okay. (I also lowkey said on a Goodreads updates that as long as Jace and Tyra made it through this book … everything would be okay. I kind of now retract that statement… π ) About 3% into the book, I was already dying due to my face being split in two due to extremely cute, shippable moments.
Characters:
As I said, Jace, my man, was our main narrator. (But as is the true style of Ilyon, there were numerous narrators.) He experiences a set of different struggles then he has in previous books, which was actually really interesting to read about. Taking his life – and others – into his own hands. Etc. ALSO. Jace is a complete fangirl of Kyrin, and it just adorable. Be still my beating heart.
Daniel! Daniel! I had (oops) forgotten a lot about everything from Exiles, but I quickly caught up and I am absolutely in love with his character! He’s grown so much in the span of these five books, and I love to see who he has become. (Now we’d better leave before I go all teary-eyed, mushy proud mama on you.)
I’M SO PROUD OF MY MAN, LIAM. Like, I have teary eyes at how he is stepping up and accepting himself and where his skills lie. He’s shaking off his good-for-nothing grandfather and keeps strong morals/integrity. ALSO, LIAM’S GOT A GIIIIIIIRL. ππ
Otherwise, I felt that we really didn’t get a whole lot from other characters. (Though we DO see a set up with Aaron for the Ilyon novella, Lacy!!!) I have so much love for Kyrin and Rayad and the whole Altair clan! β€ Loved seeing Timothy and Aaron, as well!!!
Writing/Plot:
If you have read any of the Ilyon books, then you know that there are always tons of narrators. (Basically every main and side character has a chapter to share.) I actually love this! You can definitely tell who the main character is – in this case, Jace – but you also get others’ perspectives. And Jaye writes it SO WELL. I am in awe. *applause*
Bitter Winter was definitely plot driven versus character driven. So we have lots of action and intense (especially emotionally) moments. BUT THERE ARE SO MY CUTE, FANGIRLY SQUEALING MOMENTS. I AM IN LOVE. β€
Dislikes:
This is definitely a personal pet peeve for me, but everyone got “paired” up with everyone … and now all the peeps are in super happy courtships (though there’s still another book for conflicts!!!). I don’t usually like the happy stuff (unless it’s Jace x Kyrin), but yeah.
I also feel that this book left out a lot of the character building and quality time. It was definitely more action/plot focused, which isn’t always a bad thing, I just loved Resistance for the characters.

Other/Summary:
The book is definitely a lot more quick and intense then the others, but still managed to hold on to the sweet and emotionally-tormenting bits at the same time. SOME SCENES WERE INCREDIBLE. (Both for my fangirl soul and for how they were written.)
I will warn you, there will be tears. Some happy. Mostly sad. Okay, almost all sad.
DEATH, DISEASE, DEATH. Nothing too descriptive. Sweet romance moments. (All the ships!) I definitely don’t think that I’m ready for the final Ilyon book…
β β β β
Have any of you followed along or read parts of the series? If you have, let’s fangirl! Otherwise … what is a book that brutally tore your heart out? Was filled with death? LET ME KNOW. I LOVE ALL THE DARK AND SAD THINGS.
Oooh who doesnβt love a good bit of death in a book??! Definitely gonna check out this series.
Also loving the Narnia GIFs! I really need to rewatch those films… and yes wow Edmund is so relatable, love him β€
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I know!! It’s been FOREVER since I watched Narnia! I really need some more Edmund time (he was my fave fictional character for many-a-years π)
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