Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton

Hero at the Fall is the third and final book in Alwyn Hamilton’s magical Rebel of the Sands-series following orphan tomboy Amani. Known as the ‘Blue-Eyed Bandit’, she has always been “more gunpowder than girl”. Little did she know, when she eventually managed to escape her dead-end town, that she would come to lead a revolution. But fate leaves her no choice. As she watches those she loves most lay their lives on the line against ghouls and enemy soldiers, Amani questions whether she can be the leader they need or if she is leading them all to their deaths.

I won’t go into the plot to not risk give any spoilers away, but this sure was a satisfying and bittersweet conclusion to a wonderful series. Just like the previous two books it was an action-packed joyride, with magical creatures, epic battles, friendship and romance. Amani is such a headstrong, badass gunslinger girl and perfect main character. Alwyn Hamilton does not treat her characters kind though. She just kept throwing new challenges at them all, making them face impossible decisions and sorrows. I also would have loved to get a little bit more of Jin and Amani together, even if the pieces we did get were very satisfying. It’s very refreshing with their low key romance that is always in the background of the story, but not the kind of overwhelming love story most YA books have.

All in all, this was a great finale where all loose ends were wrapped up in a marvelous way.

​Find out more about the book and the author here: Alwyn Hamilton