Jem's review of From Burning Ashes by Stacey Marie Brown

This war is not being played on a battlefield. 

Killed by the man she loves, not even death is kind to Zoey. 
Neither life nor her fae powers will let her go in peace. 

In this final installment, Zoey’s strength, determination, and trust are put to the ultimate test. In the fight to protect the people she loves and stop DMG from experimenting on fae, humans, and animals to create soldiers, she learns the reality of how far Dr. Rapava will go to achieve his ultimate mission. 

Of course, Rapava is not the only one willing to go to extremes. Vadik is hunting Ryker, and there is nothing he won’t do to get back the property he feels is his: both Ryker and the Stone of Destiny. 

To end one evil, Zoey might have to make a deal with another. One she won't be able to get out of. And it could be the worst decision she ever made. 

I've been waiting for what has felt like forever for the last book in the Collector Series, especially after the way Stacey Marie Brown ended the third book in the series, Across The Divide. What an epic, teetering on the edge, hanging on by your fingernails cliffhanger that was!

Needless to say I was super excited when I heard that From Burning Ashes was just around the corner and as soon as it was released was straight on Amazon downloading it to my kindle.
I loved this book and it lived up to my expectations, much like the others in the series. We jumped straight back into where ATD left off and the book immediately had me on the edge of my seat and that lasted through the whole thing.

All of my favourite characters were back and had major parts to play, my favourite has to be Sprig, the honey loving sprite monkey. He brings some light heartedness to what is actually quite a dark story line. But apart from the humour that he brings to the story, what I love about Sprig is that he has the biggest heart for such a tiny monkey and is as loyal as they come. He cares about Zoey, Ryker and the rest of the Collector family, even Cryogen (well just a bit but I'm sure he wouldn't admit that)

“Suuupperrspprriittee,” Sprig sang. “I’m so badass. Like a honey-crunch, double-dipped-doughnut, rolled-in-sugar, fried-in-honey badass. Bees will be my pollen posse.”

Zoey is one of my favourite female leads, she is tough, which she has to be with all that she's gone through, but she has the biggest space in her heart to accept people and trust them too. I love how she has grown and developed so much through the series and in the culmination of her story she has really shone through, for me, as a true heroine. Stacey has really written a character that deserves respect and is someone we could look up to. The things that Zoey has experienced and gone through in her life would be enough to make anyone crumble and close in on themselves, but Zoey has the strength and the people around her, to fight through it all and still have a decent sense of humanity about her.

Sometimes life came out of nowhere and clobbered you, tearing down your preconceived ideas and prejudices, till all you could see was the truth behind the labels.

Now to Ryker, the yummy, super hot, fierce Viking that I find myself fantasizing about. Wow, Stacey has written one of the hottest characters ever. In the first book of the series, I'll admit that I wasn't his biggest fan but I fell for him, BIG time, in the second book and by the third he'd wormed his way into my heart. In FBA, I just want to run off with him (though I think I'd have to actually be Zoey to get him to do that) He is the perfect partner for Zoey in all ways and he really comes through for her in this book.

And from burning ashes, I rose again.

This book rounded off the series perfectly, it closed down pretty much all the threads of the story that were open and there was even a surprise visit from a character from The Darkness Series, Stacey's other series which runs parallel to this series and is also set in Seattle.

I'm hoping though that this is not the last of Zoey, Ryker, Sprig & Cryogen that we'll see. There was some unfinished business left with the stone which had me hoping that maybe, just maybe, Stacey will write another series somewhere down the line that includes them and hopefully Ember, Eli and the rest of The Darkness Series crew. Now that would be an epic story which I would love to read. In the meantime I know that she is working on West's story (from The Darkness Series and if you haven't read those yet then now's the time) to be released in Fall 2016 so I will be impatiently awaiting that.

I think Stacey ended this series perfectly and its definitely one on my list that I'll go back to and reread. Now I'm off to go fantasize about Ryker, me and a Chevy Chevelle car..........