This book. Wow. Let’s just say Escape the Reaper by Ashley N. Rostek was an emotional ride. There is SO much pain to wade through in this final installment of the Maura Quinn series and there were moments that had me struggling with my own tears because I felt like I was part of Maura’s pain.
The incredible writing made it difficult not to experience the trauma and agony alongside Maura and I loved how connected this book made me feel to the characters. The characters are so real and so relatable, flawed and yet beautiful in their own ways and I just can’t get enough of them. They truly make these books great.
I was also all about Maura’s revenge period. I swear this woman gets more badass with each book and I’m here for it. It’s something that has truly made me admire her from the beginning of the series. She’s a woman that does not need to be rescued, and in fact, adamantly refuses to be as she insists on doing everything herself. Of course, this can be a flaw because she struggles to accept help, but her strength is what truly astounds me in the best way. But Maura takes her anger into her own hands in this end to her story. She proves what a badass she has become throughout the course of the series and does everything she can to get her revenge and it’s very hard not to cheer her on.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the odd Jamie and Louie chapters throughout the novel. There weren’t a huge number, but it was still a nice little taste of these two characters with some insight into their thoughts and feelings that I really enjoyed. I’m a sucker for multiple POVs in alternating chapters, especially when it involves the love interest (or interests) so this was such an enjoyable part of the final book in this series. Especially when there was so much angst going on between the characters throughout the course of it. It gave insight into everyone’s experiences and let you see things from each differing perspective rather than only getting one side of the story and therefore being biased by that persons views.
Furthermore, It. Was. Action. Packed. I swear once this book started it was just one thing happening after another. There was no time to slow down, and therefore it was nearly impossible to put Escape the Reaper down because there was no break in the events taking place that made it easy to step away from this book. I just needed to see what was going to happen, and there were so many tense moments that the idea of stopping was too anxiety inducing to contemplate. It meant when I did I was left thinking about what would happen next and counting down until I could pick it back up again.
Finishing this book was bittersweet. I loved every minute of it, but was a little sad to see the end to the story of these characters as I’ve felt so connected to them throughout. I sincerely hope Ashley N. Rostek will return to this world in future, if not the same main characters, because I truly miss these books already. To sum it up, the finish to the Maura Quinn series was fully worth the wait and fans are going to love this latest, and last installment. If you haven’t started it yet, go read these books now, you won’t regret it!
