Genre* YA ParanormalRating: 3.5-4*Review*Vanquished, written by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, is the final installment in the Crusade series. If you haven’t already read the first two books in the series called Crusade and Damned respectfully, I would encourage you to do so before attempting to dive into this book. The series is complex in its creation, and there are a bunch of separate storylines that won’t make much sense to you unless you know the particular characters and nuances involved.Vanquished continues to focus on a group of eclectic teenagers who were trained to fight vampires worldwide after the vampires announced themselves to the world thanks to Solomon the leader of the Vampire Nation. The group, called Team Salamanca, is now lead by Jenn Leitner after events of Damned. They’re still on the run from everyone, including the Catholic Church who has outlawed vampire hunters and declared that anyone caught helping them would be disavowed. This includes their leader Father Juan who is as mysterious as they come. There’s even a surprising revelation in regards to Father Juan which you will totally understand if you’ve read the previous books.Jenn, who previously thought of herself as just Jenn, has grown to the point where she could be considered cold and hardened to the core. She’s now a leader in her own right and can no longer afford to let her feelings for Antonio or Noah get in the way of the mission to stop the vampires from taking complete control of the world. She’s also worried about her sister Heather, who was turned into a vampire by Aurora and disappeared without a trace. In the end, Jenn will need to find all the courage and strength she can find in order to survive the final battle between good and evil.Vanquished is broken into THREE books, each holding important clues to the final battle against the vampires and each telling the story of Team Salamanca teammates Skye York, Holgar Vibbard, Jamie O’ Leary, as well as Jenn, Noah, Father Juan, and Antonio.I think the most interesting character this time out is Skye. Not only was she kidnapped and tortured by her Ex-Estefan who is a Dark Witch, but she has to deal with her family and former coven mates who basically turned their back on her when she went to join the fight against the vampires. But, it’s her feelings for Holgar that are the most endearing and helps keep her sanity in check. She also becomes a leader in her own right when the final battle between good and evil reaches its pinnacle thanks to some surprising new characters that decide to forgo their isolation and join in on the fight against the vampires. Vanquished is a fitting finale to a pretty amazing series. It introduces readers to the Father of all vampires in Lucifer, as well as secondary characters who reappear to help fight the vampires like Jenn’s grandmother Esther who I must say is a total badass. There’s plenty of action and intrigue to keep readers going right until the surprising ending. The ending, in my opinion, leaves a lot of room for further story development if the authors ever decide to come back and revisit this series from different characters perspectives.
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Genre* YA ParanormalRating: 3.5-4*Review*Vanquished, written by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, is the final installment in the Crusade series. If you haven’t already read the first two books in the series called Crusade and Damned respectfully, I would encourage you to do so before attempting to dive into this book. The series is complex in its creation, and there are a bunch of separate storylines that won’t make much sense to you unless you know the particular characters and nuances involved.Vanquished continues to focus on a group of eclectic teenagers who were trained to fight vampires worldwide after the vampires announced themselves to the world thanks to Solomon the leader of the Vampire Nation. The group, called Team Salamanca, is now lead by Jenn Leitner after events of Damned. They’re still on the run from everyone, including the Catholic Church who has outlawed vampire hunters and declared that anyone caught helping them would be disavowed. This includes their leader Father Juan who is as mysterious as they come. There’s even a surprising revelation in regards to Father Juan which you will totally understand if you’ve read the previous books.Jenn, who previously thought of herself as just Jenn, has grown to the point where she could be considered cold and hardened to the core. She’s now a leader in her own right and can no longer afford to let her feelings for Antonio or Noah get in the way of the mission to stop the vampires from taking complete control of the world. She’s also worried about her sister Heather, who was turned into a vampire by Aurora and disappeared without a trace. In the end, Jenn will need to find all the courage and strength she can find in order to survive the final battle between good and evil.Vanquished is broken into THREE books, each holding important clues to the final battle against the vampires and each telling the story of Team Salamanca teammates Skye York, Holgar Vibbard, Jamie O’ Leary, as well as Jenn, Noah, Father Juan, and Antonio.I think the most interesting character this time out is Skye. Not only was she kidnapped and tortured by her Ex-Estefan who is a Dark Witch, but she has to deal with her family and former coven mates who basically turned their back on her when she went to join the fight against the vampires. But, it’s her feelings for Holgar that are the most endearing and helps keep her sanity in check. She also becomes a leader in her own right when the final battle between good and evil reaches its pinnacle thanks to some surprising new characters that decide to forgo their isolation and join in on the fight against the vampires. Vanquished is a fitting finale to a pretty amazing series. It introduces readers to the Father of all vampires in Lucifer, as well as secondary characters who reappear to help fight the vampires like Jenn’s grandmother Esther who I must say is a total badass. There’s plenty of action and intrigue to keep readers going right until the surprising ending. The ending, in my opinion, leaves a lot of room for further story development if the authors ever decide to come back and revisit this series from different characters perspectives.
