Summary:

The price of freedom is always paid in blood.

The sovereigns of the Silver have awakened, but the Queen is a fractured shell of the woman Cam remembers. He hopes to put her back together by finding her son, the missing prince. At least, that’s what he tells his friends when he leaves for the Red.

Back in the Blue, Julia’s old tormentor Rufus is hounding her at every turn. She’s sick of feeling powerless, but she has a plan that will bring the Nobles to their knees.
All she needs is blood.

The Blood Prince is the final book in Josie Jaffrey’s Sovereign trilogy, set in a dystopian Europe where vampiric Nobles control the last remnants of the human race.

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Thoughts:

Oh, I had a lot of fun with this series, and the final book had a few surprises left in store for me. This has to be one of my new favorite series because it combines two elements I love – post apocalypse and vampires – and it does it well and in a meaningful way. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun to read.

We pick up the story from the previous book pretty much right where it left off. I almost regret putting off reading this one for a few months instead of reading it along with the first two because the entire trilogy works really well together. Although it felt there was a bit of a victory at the end of the The Silver Queen in some ways, in other ways things are worse than ever. One of the major goals has been completed, and the queen is back! Everyone is hoping that this will be their salvation. But, they didn’t count on the queen being unstable. Not to mention, the Noble’s position has been further weakened by the recent Weeper outbreak in the Blue. Most of the remaining Nobles are struggling to hold onto a way of life that might not be sustainable. While others may have a different vision for the future, one where Nobles and Weepers are a thing of the past. I really loved the opposing views here and the conflict it created between our characters.

Most of all, I love this book because of the characters. We continue to spend time with both of our POV protagonists here, Julia and Cam, and I really enjoy both of their stories. Things seemed like they were going great for Julia at the end of the last book, finally being reunited with Lucas. But back in the Blue, Julia has more problems than ever. Having seen the outside world, she’s come back more cynical than ever. When Lucas joins the other Invicti, becoming more enmeshed in Noble life than ever before, Julia can’t help but feel conflicted–despite her love for Lucas, her hatred of the Nobles and all they stand for has never been more strong. Not to mention being back in the city means further interaction with her nemesis (and most surprisingly, sometimes make-out partner) Rufus. There’s a bit of a ‘love triangle’ (but not really) that starts off here, and I’m glad that it worked out the way it did in the end. I love that Lucas and Julia had some relationship issues here, although some of it felt a bit manufactured. Storytelling wise, I would have loved for the focus to remain on their conflicting goals rather than the Rufus stuff, just because that seemed pretty random (although I’ll admit that part of me did enjoy it).

Meanwhile, Cam is dealing with his own relationship conflicts with Felix. Can he really trust Felix? Was he betrayed? I love Cam and Felix, even when I’m not entirely sure if I can trust Felix either. Even in his fear of betrayal, Cam’s feelings never waver. Unlike Julia, who is constantly wavering on things, Cam is steadfast, in everything. He searched for years for Em because he believed she was still alive and was committed to finding her, even when everyone else had given up hope, and that’s pretty much how he approaches everything in life. Once he’s made a commitment to something, he doesn’t waver, and sees it through to the end–whatever that might be. This too has a downside, because he’s so focused he often lets other things fall by the wayside. But in the end, Cam is a good person and he’s willing to sacrifice everything to make a better world for everyone.

This has some great action in it, and I really loved the pacing–just like the first two books this felt like a much shorter book because it was such a quick read. I love the way the tension builds until everything comes to a head. There was a tiny bit of the characters serving the plot rather than the other way around, mostly with some of the side characters, but that didn’t bother me much and is a very minor nitpick. I did enjoy the way things were resolved in the end (even though it did also leave a couple of open threads)–it was a satisfying conclusion to the series. 4/5 stars.