Title: The World You Loved (Slattery Falls, Book Three)

Author: Brennan LaFaro

Release date: June 13, 2023

Huge thanks to Brennan for sending me an eARC of this one!

So, here we are. The finale. The ending. Book three of three.

If you’ve read any book series in your life, you’ll have an idea of what to expect when you get to the ending of a series. The first is that it may not be the ending. Sometimes authors are assholes like that. They build everything up, they tie off a bunch of loose ends, and then SHABLAM!! Leave the door open for the potential of more. The second is that (as I just said) a bunch of the loose ends will be tied off and you’ll get some answers. The third is that there will be blood. Oh, yes, there will be blood. And action. And devastation. Which is the fourth guaranteed thing in the last book of a series. Devastation. Death. Those you loved and followed along with may not make it to the end of the end.

LaFara has led us on a journey and now that we’re at the potential ending, I had that hint of nervousness you always get when you crack it open. Can the author do the story justice? Will the journey wrap up how you want it to end? Who will survive and what will be left of them?

What I liked: After a brief ‘the story up until now’ refresher – cheers for that Brennan – we dive in, immediately joining Travis and Elsie where we’d left off. The hard part about reviewing the third book in a series is that spoilers are almost impossible to avoid for book 1 and 2 so tread lightly here if you’ve not read either.

Having been separated from Robin and their daughter, April, they find a way to get back to Slattery Falls, only to discover eleven years has past. In the few short hours they were trapped on the other side, over a decade flew by.

After reuniting with Robin and her wife, Penny, they get to see their now-teenaged daughter and the emotions fly. This was a powerful scene and it set the stage for the events to follow. Namely, the return to Slattery, the following of the clues and the desire to end Weeks’ reign of terror once and for all.

LaFaro does a great job of banding this group together, having them work as a team even as things take a few sideways steps and the surviving characters make it to the other side and reunite with an old friend to finally take down Weeks. The explosive finale was powerful and made for some great emotional highs and lows. Fans of this series will find themselves reaching for the tissues as the body count rises.

What I didn’t like: For being a third book and a series ender, there was a significant amount of continued information dump in the form of back story and Youtube videos. It was necessary, but I felt at times that it slowed the pace too much and reduced how much of the last section of the book would be available for that final good versus evil battle.

Why you should buy this: If you loved books 1 and 2, LaFaro confidently destroys book 3 and wraps this one up really nicely. Slattery Falls is a location that works really well and how it is utilized over the course of three books, LaFaro has made it his own paranormal home base. He does leave the ending open to potential further entries, but it felt more like they’d be stand alone or unrelated.

This was a great ending to a very solid series and will make fans of Brennan’s and Slattery Falls very happy.

5/5