Review Detail

Fans of The Sunlit Lands trilogy are in for a treat as they devour the third and final installment of this fantastical series.
After the bittersweet ending of the previous book in which (spoiler alert: Madeleine sacrifices herself to reset magic) author Matt Mikalatos administers some emotional salve by giving us more of everyone’s favorite lovably honest character, (Jason) Wu Song. Much more, in fact; the author correctly decides that if one Jason is good, thousands of them would be even better!
Jason’s lighthearted good nature helps to keep the story from feeling too bleak, even as the author continues to tackle the heavy issues of systemic racial injustice and the rise of authoritarian demagoguery.
The allegory between the problems in The Sunlit Lands and the modern world feels somewhat heavy-handed at times, but for YA literature this unsubtle approach may be appropriate.
In this final book, the societal friction caused by generations of inequality finally reaches a crescendo as the Elenil embrace ever-more oppressive methods to maintain the traditional power structure which has been unravelling due to the events in of the previous novels.
Darius discovers more about the history of The Sunlit Lands, and finds he is the only one who is able to repair the mistakes made during the lands’ creation.
Jason embarks on a mission to change the hearts and minds of the Elenil.
Shula discovers the truth about her past.
While the end of The Sunlit Lands is something that no one is able to prevent, the friends manage to restore harmony and justice, and set the lands on a path toward renewal and regrowth.