Seen at Bookish Antics! 
 Endsinger is the third and final book in the Lotus War trilogy and what a ride it's been. If you thought that the first two books in this series were heavy on emotions and feels, Endsinger will destroy you in all the right ways. It's extremely difficult to write a satisfying ending and it's even harder to write a fitting ending, but Kristoff has done both seamlessly. Few series conclusions are this masterful, heartbreaking and just plain epic, then again I should have seen this coming especially after Kinslayer. 
 Yukiko has been fighting a war all her life and she has lost so much already, but her journey is not over yet. The line between allies and enemies is so thin in Endsinger that Yukiko doesn't know who to trust. She's been betrayed by those she loved the most and such scars don't fade so easily, not to mention that there is so much she's in the dark about. Buruu refuses to tell her why he's hated by his fellow thunder tigers and why he's called Kinslayer. To win this war, there's going to be a heavy body count and not everyone Yukiko loves will make it out alive... 
 Endsinger is absolutely beautifully written and though Kristoff's prose is sometimes a bit wordy, it's extremely intricate and a delight to read. In just a few sentences, Kristoff really creates haunting imagery and visions of the future that readers will be equally impressed and horrified by. Thunder tigers and Earthcrushers aren't impossible because of Kristoff, he made me believe in such things and it's very easy to suspend your disbelief when he creates such a lucid, well-developed world. 
 This book is truly a hard book to get through, not because I didn't enjoy it -- I truly loved this book -- but because there are just so many poignant moments that will truly hit readers in the feels. I'm convinced that Kristoff feeds off readers' tears because otherwise why would he put through this torture and expose this to such brutality. The body count reaches an all-time high for the Lotus War series in Endsinger and each death feels meaningful, a difficult feat when the deaths are so numerous and follow each other so quickly. Goddamn it, Kristoff! I knew this book would be difficult to read, but I could never have even prepared myself for this stamping out of my heart. Even as I write this review, tears are pinpricking my eyes and it takes a truly gifted author to make readers feel so emotional, to develop such a connection with their characters that it hurts this much when they run into trouble. 
 The ending. I don't know how Kristoff managed to end such an expansive story in such a way that was completely fulfilling and necessary. It's rare to close a book and think that the author ended it in the best way possible, but that's how I felt when I turned the final pages. The ending is painful and my heart just hurts thinking about it, but this is how it needed to end and I thank Kristoff for not holding back. This is the true ending that the Lotus War needed and I can't see it ending any other way. 
 I'd highly recommend reading Endsinger (and the Lotus War series in general) and I definitely think you should have tissues on hand while reading because you'll definitely need them. I'm so very grateful to Kristoff for writing this series, but most of all for creating Buruu who's definitely on my list of favorite characters of all time. There are just so many memorable Buruu moments in this book and he's one of the many reasons that I'll be pushing this series on so many. I'm thrilled that this series ended on such a high note and I'm super excited to read Illuminae which Kristoff co-wrote!