Book Review
Title: The Last Days of Hong Kong (Witch of Empire Book 3) by G. D. Penman
Genre: Urban, Paranormal, Romance
Rating: 3.75 Stars
After the ending of The Wounded Ones I wasn’t sure where Penman was going to take the series for the finale but I am excited to find out. The Last Days of Hong Kong begins with Sully arriving there intending to go to the Americas Embassy only to find it destroyed and having to make up a plan as she goes along. We jump back and forth in time filling in the gaps from the ending of The Wounded Ones which still leaves me with a lot of questions as Sully hasn’t got all of her memories back but she is being sent to find Eugene from the first book since she was the one that orchestrated his release. However, Mol Kalath seems to be with Sully in the present as she takes on a vampire who is hitting on her but she is very reluctant to use magic for some reason which she has never had a problem using in the past especially when dealing with people or creatures that try to take her on.
As we bounce around in time it becomes clear that Sully does have her memories and has for a while but in order to keep herself from being hunted down and killed she creates a wedding ring from Cold Iron to block her magic so no one suspects her and she lets the important people believe she is still in possession of the very dangerous spell she used to end the battle with the Fae even though it was lost with her memories. She seems to be in Hong Kong to rescue Eugene from his torment but I have a feeling that isn’t everything as she enquires about a vampire fitting Marie’s description as Hong Kong is the one place where vampires are persecuted for just being vampires meaning that Marie may have ran after speaking to Sully before the final battle with the Fae and Sully is now trying to find her fiancé. Sully ends being sold to an auction by someone she wronged in the past but it is exactly what she wants as Eugene is being sold in the same auction. She bargains with him so that if she frees him and sends him back to where he belongs he won’t kill her and he may even help her out and obviously Eugene, tired of being bound to a doll agrees. Sully uses all her wit to drive the auction into a frenzy before using her ace in the hole to escape the auction. However, in the chapters set in the past we are hearing whispers of Atlantis which like Manhattan was sealed away by choice it seems and it might be making a reappearance in this book but honestly right now I have no idea where Penman intends to go with this book.
Once she escapes with Eugene they realise they have to lay low for a bit before leaving Hong Kong but they unexpectedly run into Marie and some other vampires who want Sully to use a wish in order to make Hong Kong a safe haven for vampires. Sully can’t agree to this knowing what wishes actually do but Marie is refusing to leave the one place she is accepted but promises to return for her but she is warned that Hong Kong might not be standing when she returns as they are balancing on a knife’s edge right now and it is only going to get worse. Sully having grown up throughout the first two novels now knows that this is the only world they have and they need to fix it rather than messing with the universe every time someone does something to offend someone else. The vampires don’t agree with this but since Sully is rounding up demons to send home like Eugene there will be no more wishes and she even convinced the Magi to back off from chasing her for the deaths during the war with the Fae as everyone lost someone and they aren’t the only grieving but they are the only ones lashing out because of it and making things more difficult than they need to be right now.
The group of four are trying to get somewhere safe but everyone seems to be after either Sully, Eugene or the pair of them. The vampires wants Eugene’s wish to create a safe world for them, the Magi want it to bring back the friends they lost during the war and Sully is the only person who can stop them from getting it but it also relies on Eugene’s cooperation and want to go home and to be free once more. Once Eugene is gone there will be no more wishes and everyone will just have to live in the world as it is. I have a feeling this whole book is going to be about getting Eugene home and away from people who want his wish as we are 65% in and that is what Penman is focusing on. Maire, Sully and Eugene are trying to open a portal to Hell in order to send him back but they are interrupted by the ones chasing them as they seem to have the upper hand in this fight despite Sully having every advantage in the book right now so it didn’t really make sense but I am going to wait and see how Penman ends the series in the final 50 pages of the novel.
The ending of The Last Days of Hong Kong was great but honestly I could have done without the constant back and forth with the time line. While going back and forth in time did have its advantages it just felt a little overdone to the point where following the actual story became difficult especially after the second book. In terms of plot I felt that this could have been a duology as The Wounded Ones had a perfect ending and this seemed like an afterthought in comparison. Overall, I did enjoy the Witch of Empire series and I would recommend it but be prepared for the last book to be a little bit of a let down because the second book was so good.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
This review copy was sent to me for review consideration by Meerkat Press.
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