Audio Review: Iniquity by Amy A. Bartol

Iniquity by Amy A. Bartol
Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller
Series: The Premonition #5
Published by Tantor Audio on 2016-03-15
Length: 11hr and 56min
Reviewing Audiobook from Audible Escape
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2019 Audiobook Challenge, Beat the Backlist 2019

I gasp as my body curls toward Brennus like a flower to the sun, for the pleasure of it. He holds me close to him. His nose grazes the length of my neck. He breathes me in. I feel the roar and rush of my heartbeat. I’m his toy; his energy streams into me. He winds the invisible key in my back and the euphoria ratchets and coils inside of me: tick…tick…tick…

Another wicked surge of energy flows from him into me. Pain. Pleasure. Bliss. My jaw unclenches as my lips part. I make a small, breathy sound as we dance. Brennus responds with something close to a growl. “Ye’re killing me, mo chroí,” he murmurs. His hand moves down my back infusing me with a golden glow of power. My wings punch violently from me, tearing a hole in my day dress. They spread wide, like a red stain beyond my pale skin. I’m dancing now for the thrill of it. I follow his lead.

As the song comes to an end, Brennus kisses my throat. He whispers in my ear, “When ye get back, come find me, mo chroí. I’ve healed ye…now wake up and banjax whoever banished ye here…”

Well, I made it to the end and I am not satisfied. Iniquity by Amy A. Bartol is the final book in her series The Premonition. I was so excited to start this book, but quickly let down. Yet again, new players are introduced, another person is in love (well I guess extreme hate) with Evie, and everything gets wrapped up with a neat bow. After reading the first four books of the series, I didn’t expect a neat ending. I expected a messy ending with some heartache. But that is not the case. 

Iniquity picks up immediately after the end of Incendiary. It is the morning after Evie burned with magic everything in her path and left Brennus with a part of his soul (albeit a very small part). Now something else is after Evie, a fallen half-seraphim tied to her previous lives.

After disliking Evie for the first four books of the series, I finally saw some redeeming qualities for her. I already liked her loyalty and willingness to put others before herself, even if that usually resulted in everyone else being in trouble. We get more history here, find out more about her previous lives AND the mystery of why all these boys love her and she them is FINALLY revealed. While it made sense, I was heartsick. Read the spoiler for why. View Spoiler » I love fated soulmate stories, and this is not that. Evie chose to sever her soulmate bond, which we found out in the previous book. We see why in this one. We also see why she is drawn to Reed, why she doesn’t remember any of her past, and how despite the soulmate bond with Russ, she had a side thing with her guardian angel Xavier. Like really?! Why not can’t you just love the other half of your soul? At least Russ has Anya…. « Hide Spoiler In addition to finding all this out, Brennus’s role also comes to light. I’m not gonna lie. I love this Fae vampire and his “family.” I love how Amy A. Bartol ties Evie to them. 

The plot of this one is the culmination of the entire series. This fallen half-seraphim has been haunting Evie through all of her lives, and now this is her last chance to stop him. I found the reincarnation/past life history interesting. It added a lot to Evie’s character, even if it broke the piece of my heart that loves Russell. The world-building and interweaving plot stories with Xavier and Reed and Brennus finally make sense, and it was a nice to see in the end. 

Overall I liked Iniquity, but the ending kind of ruined it for me. This final installment is quite a bit shorter than the rest of the series, and at times the plot felt rushed. Then the end (which I’ve placed in spoiler tags to discuss) I have so many words for it but none good….View Spoiler » WHY?!?!?! This had a great ending until Brennus opened his mouth about a Fae queen legend and her fated mate. Really?! We were finally done. Brennus has his soul back and a second chance. Evie is helping save all the Gancanagh. She’s reunited with her surrogate family and renewed her aspire vow with Reed. WHY did you have to end with that?!?! « Hide Spoiler If you enjoy paranormal romance and urban fantasy, I recommend giving this series a go. It’s a great binge read (or listen…I listened to the entire series over the course of a week). 

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