<blockquote><b><i>"Demons lie."</i></b></blockquote> Well, what a way to start 2020 with a disappointment. The first book in this duology was an entertaining read, although a very cliché one and without any surprises and I was set on finishing it. But this final novel was just...I don't know, poorly done? It started out ok, with our protagonists trying to figure out how to break the curse, Taylor having the much-needed training she required, Sasha trying to be useful (and failing, because really, all he's good for is dying), and finally, FINALLY, our bad guy revealing himself and his motivations (which were weak and doesn't tie up with what we're shown in book one regarding the Winters' Curse) - there was a lot more action here, but, especially towards the end, they were all 'warning shots' and ways to stall our MCs and create more pages to a very unnecessarily long book. Taylor has a good development here, but without much training (I mean, two weeks, and very recently she couldn't even lift a stone) she's suddenly able to do this very powerful stuff. Sasha, as I said, is good for dying, period. He doesn't add much for the story or the plans to defeat Mortimer except being his impulsive, angry-self, and his driving abilities. Taylor and Sasha's romance is so poorly done and built that it is cringy. Their lines and moments are just...ugh, no. Louisa, along with a very good addition in the form of Alaister, though a very interesting character, gets very few moments to shine - but the ones she gets are the best out of the book, including the couple scenes (WAY more chemistry and emotion in a single scene than Taylor and Sasha in two books). I also have to point all the very cliché and kind of childish dialogues, especially towards the end. Which, by the way, is awful. It's poorly done, it's messy, it's simplistic and lacks courage. There's no life-changing or surprising plot twist and the one the authors try to spring on us is literally that - it's tossed on the reader without ANY development and we're left to wonder when, where, why it happened at all. There's a lot left unexplained and will remain this way since there are no plans for a third novel. I was really upset, because at times this seemed promising, even if for entertainment value alone, but now not even for that. I really wanted to start my reading year with a high note, but alas.