Shadow Heir by Richelle Mead

Rating : 5 / 5

Goodreads : Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham strives to keep the mortal realm safe from trespassing entities. But as the Thorn Land's prophecy-haunted queen, there's no refuge for her and her soon-to-be-born-children when a mysterious blight begins to devastate the Otherworld. . .
The spell-driven source of the blight isn't the only challenge to Eugenie's instincts. Fairy king Dorian is sacrificing everything to help, but Eugenie can't trust the synergy drawing them back together. The uneasy truce between her and her shape shifter ex-lover Kiyo is endangered by secrets he can't—or won't—reveal. And as a formidable force rises to also threaten the human world, Eugenie must use her own cursed fate as a weapon—and risk the ultimate sacrifice. . .

My review : This is the fourth and final book in the Dark Swan series and... OMG I loved this book so much !!! This is so weird because I have a pretty hectic relationship with this series. I didn't like the first book at all and gave it 2 stars, the second and third were ok so I gave them 3 stars and now this one is one of my favorite adult book ever !! It's kind of crazy... So yes i'm really happy that I decided to keep reading this series. It took me 4 days to read this book because I didn't want it to end...

I really liked the atmosphere of this book. It is much better than all the other books in the series.I liked the beginning even if it wasn't every eventful but I liked the reflexion on life and how living a simple life without bothering with the past or the future can be nice and peaceful. I liked the character of Evans he is very wise and so different from all the other men in Eugenie's life, she learned a lot from him. 

I also liked following her pregnancy which is very weird for me because i'm not a huge fan of all of that, kids ect... I thought that I would hate this book when I finished the third one and knew at the end that she was pregnant but it was quite the contrary. I was a little afraid by her pregnancy but Richelle Mead managed to continue the story going on and it was credible. 

But I also loved when she is going back in the "gentry" world. She has now two lands to take care of and there is a huge weather problem in Shadow Heir. It reminded me a lot of Game of Throne ! Indeed the kingdoms are under a "blight" spell which mean they are in a perpetual winter. It's my favorite season so I really liked this kind of atmosphere.

I was so happy to see Dorian again he is my favorite character. I laughted at his witty remarks, I was also really glad to see Jasmine and I think it's great that her relationship with Eugenie is better than in the other books. She is very loyal to her now. I was also glad to see all the other characters Roland, Shaya, Rurek and Volusian. And it was amazing because in Shadow Heir we finally discover Volusian's story and past. And it's heartbreaking, tragic and cruel...

The whole escape mission at the end in the queen's caslte was pretty epic ! And the end was incredible... I was so glad to learn something (sorry i'm trying to avoid any huge spoilers) but Richelle Mead is cruel because we have a huge cliffhanger and I wanted to know Dorian's reactions so badly !!! I never believed there could be an end to this without the death of Eugenie or her son but Richelle Mead once again is a pure genius and I didn't see it coming. 

I'm glad that I finished this series. It's a really good adult series and now that I've read all Richelle Mead's books i'm very very sad.