The Final Installment?

The Merciless IV: Last Rites by Danielle Vega

It's no secret that I picked up my first books by Vega a few years ago when I was trying to read more books than I had the year before it. I won't say I fell in love with them, but I am definitely intrigued by her writing. So, as new installments in this series have popped up, I have read them and put them in my classroom. That, in and of itself is amusing, as the pentagram on the front of these books makes my students wonder about me--ha!

At any rate, I have read and liked all of the books in this series--some more than others--and am often left with more questions than answers. This time was no different. And, as far as I am concerned, this was the best book in the series, hands down.

This is told in two different timelines--Before and After. Before and After...you think you know what it is referencing, but you really don't until the last twenty or so pages (if even that many). To say there's a twist at the end is an understatement, and I honestly wouldn't rule out a fifth book, just sayin'.

This one is about Berkley, who happens to find herself in a mental facility because she had a breakdown after her best friend kills herself. Oddly enough, her roommate is Sophia, from the first two books. Berkley is doing everything she can to get out of the facility, and Sophia seems resigned to the fact that she will never leave it herself. But then the story flips to After, when Berkley is in Cambria, Italy visiting two of her friends while they are in an art program. She meets this guy, and weird things start happening to her. Weird things like strangers referring to her as the devil. She's in a town that is known for sacrificing a woman who later became St. Lucia.

So much happens in this book that you don't want to put it down--I didn't, at least. I highly recommend this book series, and I hear it has been made into a series on Netflix. I'll be checking it out, of course.