Review: Dawn Study

Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dawn Study was all I could have hoped for from the ninth, and final, Chronicles of Ixia novel. I admit that it wasn’t perfect, but it was a brilliant ending to a truly wonderful series.
 
I’ve read all of the Ixia books – the Study series, the Glass series, the Soulfinders series, and the short stories – excluding Shattered Glass. I planned to pick that one up before reading this, yet when NetGalley approved my request, I was too excited. I couldn’t hold back – I had to read this one. Fear not, all those who have yet to read Shattered Glass. The short story is not a necessity to understand this book. It’s linked in with the Glass series, with characters and events in Dawn Study, but it is not the end of the world if you have yet to read it. I now plan to go back and read it, if only to ensure I have read every single Ixia story – both full-length novel and short story – yet my lack of prior reading failed to lessen my enjoyment of Dawn Study.
 
Now comes the really hard part – trying to form a coherent review about the actual book.
 
Since Poison Study, I have been in love with this series. The world of Ixia ensured Maria V. Snyder’s place on my favourite author list. I devoured the first six books across a handful of days, and since then I’ve been jumping whenever there was news about the last three books. Without a doubt, the Study/Soulfinders characters are my favourite, but I’ve enjoyed every book in the series. Everyone has something to offer, all of the events come together in a wonderful way. With Dawn Study, I was expecting something big. I had ideas of what would come, but I wasn’t sure about anything.
 
Fortunately, Dawn Study has enough twists and turns to ensure you’re pulled in throughout. Every time I put the book down, I found myself impatient to carry on reading. You never knew exactly what would come next. Old and new characters come together, events from the past come back to influence how things play out, and the entire series is brought together in this one. Answers are given; conclusions are reached; scenes we’ve been waiting for finally play out.
 
It truly is a fabulous ending to the series.
 
I know, I know, I’m saying very little about what exactly happens. This, of course, is intentional. We’ve all been waiting so long to see all these things come together, that to give spoilers would be a truly horrible thing to do. I’ve been fortunate enough to advance read this novel, and I really do not wish to be blamed for secrets escaping. Just know that you’ll be given so many things in this one.
 
Despite how wonderful this ending was, even though so much was brought together, I wasn’t completely satisfied. The book tries to give every character some kind of ending. We get to see how events play out for everyone. Some of these endings, though, fell short for me. I’d expected more from some of the storylines. Some characters played such vital roles throughout the entire Ixia series, only to be given an ending that was less than they deserved. Yes, these endings make for great twists… However, I felt a bit cheated by some of the endings. The main characters had great endings, but some of the characters didn’t end the way I expected and hoped. It just seemed to me as though more effort was put into some endings than other endings.
 
Was this done intentionally? In some cases I can but hope, almost as though we’re going to be given more stories of these characters in the future. I cannot imagine they would be full-length novels, but I have my fingers crossed for some short stories. If only to tie up the few questions I have pertaining to how things played out for certain characters.
 
Overall, though, this was a great read. The Chronicles of Ixia series has been a real ride, and I’m so sad to see it end. All good things must come to an end, though, and I cannot wait to see what Maria V. Snyder brings us next.
 
As a final note, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to advance read this – such a thing made me a very happy fan.

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