YA
Fifth book in a saga is usually where the series either pays its debts or starts spending them badly.
A Fae is Done sits in that awkward middle ground where the world is already established, so the only real test is whether the characters still feel like people rather than pieces being pushed around by destiny. It mostly gets that balance right. Brutal enough to keep the stakes sharp, but not so obsessed with the mythic machinery that it forgets anyone has a pulse.
That’s rarer than it should be.
A Fae is Done sits in that awkward middle ground where the world is already established, so the only real test is whether the characters still feel like people rather than pieces being pushed around by destiny. It mostly gets that balance right. Brutal enough to keep the stakes sharp, but not so obsessed with the mythic machinery that it forgets anyone has a pulse.
That’s rarer than it should be.
By book five, “destiny” can start sounding like an excuse for everyone to stop making choices. That’s usually where I get wary. If the characters still have room to be awkward, stubborn, wrong-footed, all the better. Mythic stakes are fine, but I’d rather a story keep one eye on the damage it’s doing to actual people.