Reunited (Reawakened, #3)
by Colleen Houck

3.5 out of 5 stars
Lily has lost all memory of her Egyptian prince, Amon, and all the adventures she had in the netherworld with his brothers, Asten and Ahmose. But she still has supernatural abilities as a sphinx, and voices in her head that she doesn’t recognize. Seth, the god of chaos, has begun his final battle against the Egyptian gods and the battle is not going well. A goddess has hidden all three Egyptian princes away so that Seth can’t find them, and now only Lily has a heart connection that could trace them and bring them back. Lily sets off through the cosmos to find her beloved prince and her lost memories.

I loved learning about the ancient Egyptian gods and legends in this book. The adventure is really exciting and there are many mysteries and twists! The characters are compelling, and I was definitely crying at a few of the more emotional scenes. I read the whole book in three days, because it was so fascinating on many levels.

One of the best things about this book was seeing Lily interact so differently with each of the three brothers. She has three hearts that are pulled in three different directions and it’s very confusing for all of them. But the one constant thing in all of their interactions is that they love and respect each other. That honor and consideration for each other is what brings this romance out of the typical love-triangle trope and into something more meaningful. The personalities of each person involved are very highly attuned to selflessly considering the other person before themselves. That selfless conduct really inspired me! And it’s a clean romance with only a few scenes of kissing.

Amon’s brother, Ahmose, gets the spotlight in this book, as he and Lily travel together for much of the book. They grow closer and really open up their hearts in a more complete way than we see with the other two brothers. Ahmose is quiet and steady, and Lily grows to rely on him in every difficult situation. He sacrifices a lot for her, but never asks for anything in return.
One of the things I love about his character is that he will gladly make the big sacrifice and give pieces of himself to save Lily and protect her, but he also makes the small gestures that mean a lot.
There is a scene where they are tired and hungry, and they finally reach a camp where they are welcomed and a feast is laid out for them. Ahmose goes to the table first, and piles a plate full of food, and then… he hands the plate to Lily. As exhausted and hungry as he is, he always puts Lily first. That simple gesture says everything about his generous character.

I was a little disappointed that the ending is so quick. For most of the story, we get a very immediate scene by scene timeline where a lot of things are happening in quick succession. We hear every bit of dialogue, every movement in the action. We don’t miss anything; every moment is explored. And then the ending was like, “A week later….” Um, what happened during that week? It’s all wrapped up really quickly with just a few lines of dialogue and explanation, and I wanted a slower denouement. There is also a lot of dialogue that drives most of the story, and then there was very little dialogue at the end, just lots of exposition explaining this and that. The change in the writing structure for the last two chapters was jarring.

The ending also has the most blatant deus ex machina that I have ever seen in my life. The goddess literally shows up at the last second and uses her cosmic power to defeat the bad guy, heal the injured, and grant everybody’s wishes. Poof! You’re healed. Poof! You’re resurrected from the dead. Poof! Here’s some magical power for you.
After all that work and suffering and loss and pain and adventures, it felt like a let-down. I want my heroes to EARN their happily ever after.
Still, I guess it is kind of a commentary on the entire story. Throughout all her adventures, Lily is never really in control of her own destiny. She and the three brothers are used by the gods for their own ends. So naturally, the gods would step in and do whatever they want at the end, just as they have done through the entire story. In a way, the heroes HAVE earned their happy ending, because they proved themselves worthy through all the trials they endured.

Despite the quick ending, I still really enjoyed this trilogy! I did like the ending; I just felt like it could have been better constructed. I loved all the characters, and the Egyptian legends, and the magic adventures!

To see the dark content of Egyptian magic and the minor violence and romance in this book, you can check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/reunited-reawakened-3-2006504