Poison in Their Hearts by Laura Sebastian is the third and final book in the Castle in Their Bones trilogy set. I’m really not going to lie about the fact that I’ve been eagerly waiting for this book to drop ever since the completion of Stardust in Their Veins! It’s not always that I read a political fantasy series with a majority of female leads and little romance in it. With Poison in Their Hearts, the story focuses Daphne, Beatriz and Violie in their final showdown with Empress Margaraux with little to no major changes to the story format or writing.

Was I satisfied with this last book in the series after the long wait? I would say so, although it’s not without some of the same faults I found in the previous two books. For example, I still find it jarring that time passes so slowly within the story itself. I’d thought that years had passed, but in fact, it has only been a few months! This makes reuniting with some characters feel a bit weird because, again, it would have seemed that the characters were separated for years and years on end. Empress Margaraux still befuddles me a bit. Again, from the writing and story presented, it would seem that she is some shrewd old woman when, in fact, she’s only a bit double the age of the sisters themselves. In fact, a scene makes fun of this fact itself! Although their mother is obviously in the wrong for giving birth to the three sisters only to plan on killing them on foreign lands for her own benefit, I still believe the author should have gone through more lengths to flesh out the empress. Maybe she should have even given Empress Margaraux her own dedicated chapters.

For what it’s worth, I still had a great time with this series. The focus on character conversations and dialogue makes this feel more political than your typical YA series. Romance is still kept to a minimum, which I feel is consistent with the other two books. As for the sisters, each having their own distinct behavior, attitude and personality makes the series that much more fun. However, I think the ending, especially with the final showdown, was a bit rushed. I literally thought that there would be a fourth book in the series. Would I return to this universe should the author decides to come back to it in the future? I’d say maybe. If a set of new characters set in a future after the rule of Beatriz and Daphne passes, I might consider it. With having Bessemia, Cellaria, Temarin and Friv setting the tone in this series, the author could certainly do a lot with it in the future.