Step and his motley crew decide that it is time to take the fight to Guardian himself by traveling underground and locating the Heart before the evil dog himself can do so. However, this proves quite difficult, especially with another group consisting of Prophet and Dew/Jack is hunting him down in the tunnels as well, and of course Guardian himself posing a huge threat.
Just a solid conclusion to the series. I wish I had more to say on it, but it's just solid. Not my favorite book in the series for any particular reason, but it's still really good.
Let's start with the stuff I liked: the fact that we for the first time get a glimpse of the world beyond the Spires. It's been hinted as several times before, but this is the first time Step actually travels there. He meets Brutus on the Mountain, and encounters a wise old mountain lion named Sylvia. Also, there's a hint of other societies outside of the packs of the Spires, with something called the Order and an emperor ruling lands beyond. They don't formally appear yet, but I do hope that they become important later down the line. It would definitely expand the world a lot and would make for great setup. The Spires are an awesome setting, don't get me wrong, but at one point sooner or later I hope to see more of the world beyond them. Maybe in arc 2 this'll happen.
Also, I liked our main cast a lot. Step as the leader, Delta as the grouchy but smart one, Misty as the one facing her fears and Brutus as the eyes in the dark. Not all of them get along all the time, but I honestly like that. Their bickering never gets tedious, it just feels realistic as for the most part of this book they're in hostile territory they've never visited before.
Misty dies, which made me very sad. I liked her bond with Delta, the two slowly grew closer over the book and I liked seeing it. Also, Brutus played a very major role here, which was cool. Step was also still a great protagonist, though he definitely is walking a darker path, especially with that epilogue and the demand he makes about his pup.
As for Guardian, I just don't vibe with him personally as a villain. He's fine as a villain, don't get me wrong, but he's a bit too out-there, if you get what I mean. Duke and Delta in the first trilogy were very effective villains because, despite having supernatural gifts or powers, they still in the end felt somewhat grounded in reality. They still were dogs.
This contrasts to Guardian, who has a lot of power, and literally seeks to become a Spirit. I don't know, just doesn't work for me personally. Feels a bit too grandiose for me, I prefer more grounded "human" (or canine, I guess) villains, particularly the ones that have direct ties to our protagonist. I get that this is a fantasy series so obviously it can get away with very powerful villains such as Guardian, but I personally vibe more with the ones like Duke or Delta in the first three books, the ones that are a tad more down to earth. Jack/Dew also made for a great antagonist/villain in the second trilogy, but I definitely feel like she's more of an antagonist than an actual villain. She definitely opposed Step, but she's not morally as reprehensible as dogs like Duke, arc 1 Delta or Guardian, of course.
Another criticism: I think the journey to get the Heart was a bit too long. It really does feel like we spend 2/3 of the book in the Below which was fine at first, but after a while it felt like it started to drag, especially since all the POVs we had at that time was in the Below, with Step's, Delta's/Misty's, Prophet/Dew's and Guardian's. I get that they all had to be here to look for the Heart, but the book felt like it started to drag after a while.
Other than that this is a solid conclusion. The ending still leaves room for more adventures in the Spires, so I look forward to seeing what those are.
Rating: 4/5
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