4.15.2025 | Tuesday

The Choice

Item: The Choice
Author: Kim

category: Book Reviews
tag(s): adult
0 Comments

the blurb

The conclusion of the epic trilogy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Awakening and The Becoming.
Talamh is a land of green hills, high mountains, deep forests, and seas, where magicks thrive. But portals allow for passage in and out—and ultimately, each must choose their place, and choose between good and evil, war and peace, life and death...
Breen Siobhan Kelly grew up in the world of Man and was once unaware of her true nature. Now she is in Talamh, trying to heal after a terrible battle and heartbreaking losses. Her grandfather, the dark god Odran, has been defeated in his attempt to rule over Talamh, and over Breen—for now.
With the enemy cast out and the portal sealed, this is a time to rest and to prepare. Breen spreads her wings and realizes a power she's never experienced before. It's also a time for celebrations—of her first Christmas in both Talamh and Ireland, of solstice and weddings and births--and daring to find joy again in the wake of sorrow. She rededicates herself to writing her stories, and when his duties as taoiseach permit, she is together with Keegan, who has trained her as a warrior and whom she has grown to love.
It's Keegan who's at her side when the enemy's witches, traitorous and power-mad, appear to her in her sleep, practicing black magick, sacrificing the innocent, and plotting a brutal destruction for Breen. And soon, united with him and with all of Talamh, she will seek out those in desperate need of rescue, and confront the darkness with every weapon she her sword, her magicks—and her courage...

a few notes

POV: 3rd person; multi
setting: Talamh, Ireland
keywords/phrases: magic, family, betrayal
tropes: high stakes, hero’s journey, medieval-adjacent, evil villain, mentor, magical creatures, training sequence, found family
spice: 1/5🔥
language: 1/5🤬

public reading: safe
mood reading: in the mood for high-stakes, sweeping fantasy.
bonus points: strong women, Celtic mythology

my review

I loved this trilogy, and I’m sad to see it end! The world Roberts created was beautiful, rich and vibrant through good times and bad. At its heart, this last book was about love… the love of family, the love of heritage, the love of your people.

Breen will forever be one of my favorite Nora Roberts’ characters. Her journey from who she became under her mother’s eye to who she became once she embraced her heritage was beautiful. I appreciated that her road to herself wasn’t always easy; that bad an otherwise fantastical story feel real. There were some deeply emotional moments as she made her peace with people in her past, letting them go and allowing herself that.

And as much as I loved Breen, I also adored Marco. Throughout the trilogy, he was the best friend that we all want. The one who will always have your back, who loves you through it all. I loved that he had his own story and journey, especially in this last book. It was beautiful to watch him find his way, find his future.

About Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children. After a school career that included some time in Catholic school and the discipline of nuns, she married young and settled in Keedysville, Maryland.
She worked briefly as a legal secretary. “I could type fast but couldn’t spell, I was the worst legal secretary ever,” she says now. After her sons were born she stayed home and tried every craft that came along. A blizzard in February 1979 forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate.
Born into a family of readers, Nora had never known a time that she wasn’t reading or making up stories. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981.
Nora met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Since that time, they’ve expanded their home, traveled the world and opened a bookstore together.
Through the years, Nora has always been surrounded by men. Not only was she the youngest in her family, but she was also the only girl. She has raised two sons. Having spent her life surrounded by men, Ms. Roberts has a fairly good view of the workings of the male mind, which is a constant delight to her readers. It was, she’s been quoted as saying, a choice between figuring men out or running away screaming.
Nora is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.”

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: