A series to remember...
Buddy read with Ewide, Maria, and Louisiana36.
Series Review
“They'd never fade, even in the afterlight of all of this...”
I've been sitting by the computer for a while now and still the words I want to say refuse to form coherent sentences to fill this review. Sentences that will let you know how much I adored this series despite it's many flaws and frustrations. Sentences that will capture the true essence of this book, these characters, their lives, their struggles and their victory. 
“Are you sure this isn't a nightmare? And that we won't just wake up?", he asked quietly.
"Yes," I said after some time. "Because dreamers always wake up and leave their monsters behind.”
These characters are shattered into so many shards holding themselves up by sheer force of will. You can only be pushed down so many times until you start to show the cracks and smudges in your life. They are afflicted in every way, persecuted and struck down. Their world is dark, their story bleak, their emotions drained, their strength gone but their hope? No, they refuse to give that up. They refuse to hand it over. They refuse to stand down or bow out.
They are strong because they've known weakness.
They are fearless because they've lived afraid.
And they will make a stand because they've lived far too long on their knees.
“Now isn't the time to change yourself to fit into the world, You should be changing the world to accept you. To let you exist as you are, without being cut open and damaged.”
One of the reasons I love epic fantasy-more so than dystopian- is that overall feeling of hopelessness that then blossoms into a will to fight. When they stop worrying on what they have to lose and start focusing on what they have to gain-freedom. I don't think that's a feeling I ever got out of a dystopian which is weird, mainly cause that's their purpose. The fact that that is what I found here made me love this all the more.
This series as a whole was brilliant. It was devastating, magnificently developed with a cast of characters that were able to imprint themselves in my heart and make an everlasting impression. I've cried(a bucket of two), I've laughed, I've huffed in indignation, I've screamed in frustration. Everything. It's done it all to me. I truly believe this series is the epitome of an emotional rollercoaster. 
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I'm not saying this was perfect, for I refuse to lie. It had tons of room for improvement. This 535 page book could have probably been shortened into a good 300 pages. The characters at times were irritating, the plot dragged(a lot), the ending unclear and it just left one too many questions unanswered but the main dilemma is:
Can I live with these faults?
Yes, without an ounce of doubt or a second of hesitation.
“And the open road rolled out in front of us.”
