Hello, everyone! It’s no secret that I really loved the first two books in the Drowned God trilogy, Curious Tides and Stranger Skies. So, I’ve been dying to pick up the final book in the series since my pre-order arrived on my doorstep in early April. I finally finished it and am so excited to share my thoughts! Was this a fitting finale? Read on to find out!
Ninth House meets The Hazel Wood in this spellbinding conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Drowned Gods Trilogy, a gorgeous dark academia fantasy following a teen mage and her friends on their desperate quest through worlds and time!
Fate cannot be broken—not even by the gods who serve it.
Emory refuses to lose Romie again. Her friend’s fate hangs in the balance as the monstrous Clover plans to use her as a sacrifice to steal power from the deity Atheia—and make himself into a proper god. To stop Clover, Emory needs the help of Atheia’s dark counterpart, Sidraeus. Yet this enigmatic deity cannot be trusted, and if Emory is to ally with him, she must invoke an ancient magic to keep him tethered to her side.
Meanwhile, in the divine workshop of the god of balance, Baz learns he has a role to play in the coming fight to save the crumbling worlds and their weakening magics. Yet all he can think of is Kai and the gruesome fate that awaits him at Clover’s side—a fate, the god tells him, that is beyond even his reach. But Baz is determined to save Kai, even if he has to rewrite time itself.
As chaos reigns and the tides of a corrupted magic threaten to consume all, Emory and Baz must contend with mercurial gods, vengeful deities, and those hell-bent on eradicating Eclipse magic to save the people they love—and write an ending to their stories that defies fate itself.
Wow. What an ending! The nonstop action and detailed world-building made Infinite Shores, and really this entire series, a story I’ll never forget. I’ve come to care so much about these characters, and this finale provided a bittersweet but satisfying ending to their journey. I’m still in a bit of a book hangover. So, bear with me as I ramble out all of my thoughts. lol.
The plot of Infinite Shores was absolutely bonkers. There was SO MUCH going on with a ton of callbacks to previous books. It did feel convoluted at times, and the first part of the book really seemed like it should’ve been the ending to book two. Despite being a ton of stuff to track with portal hopping between worlds, time travel, journeys to hell, and the rampage of mad gods, I had so much fun experiencing all of the twists and turns the story took. Honestly, it really could have been split into two or more books, and maybe that would’ve helped the frenetic pace some by giving the space to flesh everything out a bit more. Regardless, I enjoyed every second of this absolutely wild ride and am already wanting to start a re-read of the series to see what things I might have missed.
The real standout thing about Infinite Shores was the world-building. I didn’t think much more could be added to the mythology and lore of this world after two books filled with heavy, stellar detail regarding the history and magic of this universe. Well, I was wrong. The author managed to add even more depth and a few surprises that I didn’t see coming. The multi-level hierarchy of the pantheon and all of the information about fate and the balance of life and death was really, really cool. The exploration of these pieces of the mythology led to some truly stunning imagery.
I could probably write an essay on each of the characters in Infinite Shores, but I won’t. You’re welcome. lol. Just know that they were all awesome, and I thought each arc was well done. The character journey that stood out the most to me from this book was Romie. She learned a hard lesson – that the glittery destiny you’ve been promised and have worked toward your whole life isn’t always as wonderful as it seems. She also had to put aside her prejudices and figure out what truly mattered to her. The other main thing I took away from many of the characters was that they just wanted to belong. So much of the drama, pain, and suffering in this book, and really the whole series, stemmed from the characters trying to be someone they weren’t in order to be accepted or loved. Attachment issues were front and center as a source of conflict, and they were compounded by many of the characters facing societal hurdles vying for their eradication. It was all very compelling.
A major focus of Infinite Shores was the themes of fate and balance. The characters struggled over and over again to change their fate, with balance always dragging them back to their predetermined destiny. The story really leaned into questioning whether free will is worth the chaos that comes along with it. I also quite liked how the story presented life and death as two sides of the same coin that constantly feed into each other. This series tackled a lot of different themes, and it did a great job of providing thought-provoking content related to all of them.
All in all, Infinite Shores was a great finale for this series. All of the storylines were wrapped up nicely and pretty much all of my questions got answered by the end. Some bits did feel somewhat rushed simply because of all the things this book needed to accomplish, but it didn’t damper my excitement or enjoyment of the story. If you enjoy dark academia, portal fantasy, time travel, and lots of really cool in-world lore, this is a series you should not miss! Therefore, I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.
There you have it! My thoughts on Infinite Shores by Pascale Lacelle, the final book in the Drowned Gods trilogy. Have you read this series? What did you think of the finale? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!