THE EVER AFTER

Ulla battles magically induced amnesia to unravel a dangerous, world-changing scheme.

The closing volume of the Omte Origins trilogy is a bit of a farewell tour for loyal readers, as the characters travel to visit troll kingdoms, their rulers (and other familiar beloved characters), and the trolls’ various fantastical hidden cities (with a helpful, extensive glossary to track all the spinning pieces). In the opening, Ulla is on an airplane back to Minnesota, confused and disoriented, with no recollections of the past month, and needing to be told about the trade that enabled the Trylle and the Vittra to secure her and her friends’ release from the Älvolk. Struggling against the Älvolk magic’s blocking of her memories, Ulla unlocks various flashbacks to help her piece together their endgame. To cope with her parental revelations, she seeks out her sisters and finds even more surprises as endless blood tests reveal an ever more complicated web of parentage and other familial relationships. Ulla and Pan, with shared memory loss, initially dance around their romance, though the storyline climaxes in some steamy scenes. By the time all the revelations and twists land and the full stakes are realized, the world is in danger. A large, cinematic set piece of a final battle pulls together all corners of the troll world with fast, point-of-view–jumping storylines and hard losses.

A fitting farewell with the right amounts of bittersweet and hopeful.