Yet another eARC from NetGalley! I swear, I am addicted to NetGalley now!Endure is the fourth book in the Need series, and I read the rest of the series about two years ago, I guess. I loved it…until the third book. Entice was a kind of disappointment, I have to admit. Sure, it was supposed to be one of the biggest parts of the series, where Zara finally becomes a pixie to say Nick (and succeeds), but I don’t know…it lacked the action, the anticipation, of Need and Captivate. At least, that’s how it seemed. Endure definitely made up for that missing part, though.
Nick seems to loathe Zara now that she’s a pixie, despite the fact that she changed to save him. He denies it over and over, but when he leaves, Zara doesn’t know what to think. She’s more isolated than ever. Betty has run off, Nick has gone away, her mom is in another state, and Mrs. Nix is dead. Her mother-in-law, I guess, is helping an evil pixie king, capture Zara for their own gains. Her only comfort now is found in Astley, her pixies king, the one who turned her, and one of the only “good pixie kings” and her best friend, Issie. To make matters worse, she now has to deal with Loki, a volcano god that is now after her. How does she know this? An ice giant told her with his dying breath. As a quote from Zara, it was “Twilight Zone creepy”. Zara feels like she’s being stalked. Others find out about pixies. Astley is poisoned. That’s only the first 75 pages. She’s afraid, confused, and has every right to be.
I am completely Team Astley. At first, it was Nick, yeah, but by the middle of Entice, I switched sides. Astley is Zara’s rock. He’s always there for her and always makes sure she’s safe. He’s willing to do almost anything for her, and yet, she still pines for Nick. Zara’s still a bit weak and wimpy, but she’s a lot stronger than when she first was introduced as a character. Not only do I, the reader, think so, Astley, Nick, Issie, Devyn, Astley, and everyone else does too! Nick just lost his glory in my eyes. He’s hurt Zara over and over again. When he found out she was the daughter of a pixie king, when he found out that she might become a pixie queen, and when he found out that she turned pixie. Pixie, pixie, pixie! Nick has an old prejudice, and it definitely gets annoying.
I don’t know exactly what’s different for me in the writing of Endure compared to Entice, but Endure seems more…real? I guess? I think the genre of the book changing is what did it. Instead of all the foolish fun I sensed in books 1, 2, and 3, Endure is more of a post-apocalypse book than just a plain-old fantasy/paranormal. Entice was where Zara went and got changed into a pixie, went to Valhalla, and rescued Nick, but Endure is where things hit home. Of course, there are still some parts where everyone still seems to take it as a joke. For example: “Somebody fake screams. Someone else shouts, ‘Die, you pixie scum!’” It just made me loathe those people. I mean, they know they’re on the verge of the end of the world, but they’re joking about this? Really? No. Just no. I admit that some got me laughing, but others were just plain no-at-this-time-jokes. But you can still feel the danger, see their fear and desperation. At one point I seriously panicked. It was impossible! Carrie Jones could absolutely not do that!
I had a lot of suspicions about a few characters in this book. Such as the mysterious woman who (minor spoiler) attacks Zara in the snow. I’m a major geek on legends, whether it’s Greek, Latin, Norse, or just superstition. I guess that was one of the reasons I got clued in, but I’m not saying anything else!
Anyways, as an overview, the plot is original, which we all know is pretty hard to do these days with all these great books coming in, but that’s how it’s been for all books in the Need series. There’s still the love triangle, and more than once Nick and Astley are on the verge of literally fighting for a girl, but the Need series has Norse mythology, Valhalla, and were-tigers and were-eagles! How cool is that! And it has pixies. Ok, so maybe the “pixies” are actually faeries (I mean, iron? Invitation to come in? Flying?), but they’re different because of the king needing a queen, the link between the pixies in one…kingdom. These are what makes the Need series so unique and completely lovable! And the ending? Well…it scared me half to death (for those of you who’ve read Endure, excuse the pun), but the epilogue…it was exactly what I expected from this book! And that is absolutely not a bad thing
Quick Summary: I loved Endure! Entice ruined the series for me, but Endure redeemed it! It was fun, dangerous, humorous, and deliciously so. Hurt, passion, love, sacrifices, and betrayal are gathered in this one book. Many of the main characters are as lovable as always, if not more so! As the fourth book in the series, it ends in a heartbreaking fall (Quite literally). I was a bit confused as to what happened, but after about 5 minutes pondering that section, I finally got it. Call me slow. But Endure was one of the best ending sequels I’ve ever read.