Early Review – Crucible Zero (House Immortal, Book 3) by Devon Monk (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk/Science Fiction
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: September 1, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0451467386
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the House Immortal series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

House Immortal has been my absolute favorite series by Monk so far. I read the Allie Beckstrom series and really enjoyed it. I also read the first couple books in the Age of Steam series and thought they were okay. This book ties up the House Immortal series and it was absolutely perfect; this is just such a great series…it blends together a lot of wonderful genres and has a bit of an urban fantasy feel to it pace-wise.

After fixing time Matilda (Tilly) finds out that things haven’t turned out as planned. She wakes up in an alternate universe, a universe where she didn’t survive her transfer into the galvanized body and everyone thinks of her as Evelyn. Instead of being leaders in society in this world the galvanized are mercenaries and outlaws surviving as they can.

Matilda is willing to deal with all this until she finds out that Slater Orange is still present in this world and still a threat. Even more confusing is that fact that Matilda keeps having brief moments where she falls between realities and Slater is in every reality. However the most heartbreaking thing is that when Matilda finds out that Abraham has no idea who she is. Now Matilda must get her brother and Abraham to believe her outlandish story and to help her stop Slater Orange once and for all.

This was a spectacular conclusion to this amazingly creative trilogy. I continue to love the wonderfully creative world that is a bit post-apocalyptic, a bit steampunk, and a bit sci-fi. The story has an urban fantasy feel to it in how it’s paced as well. The underlying Frankenstein theme to how the galvanized are formed adds to the creativity and makes the series even more interesting.

Matilda is an excellent character, she is tough and practical and doing her best to not let the whole “arriving in an alternate reality thing” bother her. You really feel for her as she tries to fit in in a completely new world and cope with reforging friendships. In fact this was one of the highlights of the book; I loved how we had to re-meet all the characters from the previous books and see what kind of lives they had made for themselves and how they fit into this new reality.

Abraham is in the story in a big way. It broke my heart that he didn’t know Tilly. He is a tougher and meaner Abraham than we knew in Tilly’s original world, but he is still Abraham and he is still loyal and capable and drawn to Tilly.

The way the story wraps up is amazing and I absolutely loved it. I pretty much just loved everything about this book.

Overall this was a perfect conclusion to a wonderfully creative and action-packed series. I love the characters and the time travel; the story is just woven together perfectly. This is just an awesome trilogy that I highly recommend to everyone.

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