5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, time travel, fated romance, rewriting fate, magic
Big thanks to HarperCollins, Netgalley, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I was so excited to get approved for this! I've been dying to find out what happened after the end of Never A Hero since it came out, though I did need a refresher before starting this, lol.
This book opens immediately following the end of book 2 and Joan + the others have to quickly scramble to make sense of the new timeline they've fallen into. While some aspects of London are the same, there's a lot that differs too: from the fact monsters now walk around openly, to the London skyline looking different, to the allies and enemies of the monster families having been shaken up by this new world.
Joan being half-human and Nick being fully human really drives home the danger immediately. Monsters may have been hidden in the previous timelines, but here they rule and the humans are the prey. Since the group has to find a home base to work from (and then has to carry out their schemes), we get to see a good deal of this new London. It's a brutal world, and I can't imagine the iron fist Eleanor must be ruling with in order to make it all work out. Despite the brutality, I did enjoy the historical touches that were sprinkled throughout, it really did feel like a world built by time travelers.
In this new world, Joan really confronts and begins to reconcile the fact that she's half-human and half-monster. While it's come up a few times before, and really isn't something she struggles with too much, we do see her think more deeply about and ultimately come to terms with this. Joan also has a chance in this book to learn more about the Graves and what her life might have been like had the original timeline not been altered (or, really, if Eleanor hadn't been a massive bitch in the OG timeline resulting in the Graves being erased).
We get to see a lot more of Aaron in this one and really get a better feel for him and the Oliver family. I particularly enjoyed the fact that we got to see different people's perspectives on this other-timeline version of him. It's quite different from his usual facade, but at the same time it's still perfectly him. We also got a peak at the original timeline version of him, and it was super interesting to see the threads that remained the same throughout the variations. Poor Aaron does not think highly of himself, but the timeline variants consistently prove him wrong, so it was good to see that reinforced.
We also get to see more of Nick in this timeline than before. I wasn't really a fan of him, but he took steps to remedy his past behaviors and actions, so by the end I had softened toward him. In nearly every timeline, Nick seems to have a terrible time growing up. In this London, he was made to be a gladiator for the Oliver family and his family is left in poverty, with both his brother and sister owing the rest of their time to the Olivers. Like when we initially meet him, however, the variant in this new timeline also seems to be a hero (but for real this time, lol), and so just like Aaron, we get a chance to see those threads that remain the same across variants.
Ruth and Jamie (and Frankie) also came through to the new timeline with them, though we don't really get to spend that much time with them. The bulk of the plot really does focus on the Joan-Aaron-Nick trio, though Ruth and Jamie are there to help things along. I did wish we got to see more of them. Obviously we also eventually get a confrontation with Eleanor, but I don't like her so. Some new characters come into play too, and I enjoyed getting to know them. Since monster alliances are all scrambled, we see some help from unexpected places as well.
I will say, the romantic conclusion was not what I expected and honestly, I'm not mad about it. It was a surprise, but it works out well and there's just enough buildup that the epilogue feels natural. Though I will say that I would've preferred at least a ~little~ more buildup, but that's just me.
