Early Review – Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly, Book 3) by Susan Dennard (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy
Size: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0062083326
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Something Strange and Deadly series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley. I really loved the first book in this series, but thought the second book was a bit slow. I am glad I stuck with the series though, this third book was absolutely wonderful.

Marcus has taken Eleanor’s friend Jie and Eleanor will stop at nothing to defeat Marcus once and for all. Eleanor, David, Joseph, and Oliver end up on an airship to Egypt to unravel the mystery behind Marcus and put an end to him once and for all. Eleanor and Oliver (her demon) have a very tense relationship going on after the events in the second book. Things are also tense between Eleanor and David and Joseph, because David and Joseph both disapprove of Eleanor’s increasing use of her necromancy powers.

This was a wonderful conclusion to this series. It was much more fast-paced and action packed than the second book in this series. We see a lot more of El’s magic and necromancy, as well as a lot more of Oliver and David. I really enjoyed this book and found it very hard to put down.

Eleanor is trying to learn how to use her magic without becoming addicted to it and this is a very fine line for her to walk. At times she is letting revenge cloud her vision and pushing away the very people who love her and want to help.

Oliver is becoming more and more human, yet he is still driven by his promise to El’s brother. We learn a lot more about where Oliver came from and his past.

David was in the story a lot more than in the second book, which was awesome. We see a lot more of his fantastic steampunk contraptions and tinkerings. He is a wonderful character.

I loved the exotic locations, we spend most of the book in Egypt and the author does an excellent job describing the surroundings. There is a lot about Egyptian mythology in here too which is another topic I really enjoy reading about. The magic/necromancy theme was a lot stronger than the steampunk theme, but there were still a number of steampunk elements in here.

There is so much that happens in this book and so much of it is absolutely awesome. There is one event in the end of the story that kind of broke my heart, but it fit the story really well…so I ended up not being too upset. I am keeping all of this vague in hopes of preventing spoilers.

Overall an absolutely fantastic ending to this series. So much happens. The locations are awesome, the magic is incredible, the characters are very engaging, there is action and an awesome world. Really I just don’t think Dennard could have done a more perfect job of wrapping up this series. I am so eager to see what she is working on next. This whole series is recommended if you are a fan of zombies, steampunk, and some kick butt necromancy!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Reading Challenge
– Ebook Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge