Reigning Ascent (The Pearson Prophecy Book 3)

Ariah, Mer, and Owen are back and heading to the kingdom of Agrolon to meet with King Percy. On their way to the meet with the King, they cross paths with her brother Logan. A reunion is in short order, but not without its problems. While Logan is happy to see his sister, he’s not prepared for the changes that have come from the year that she has been gone. Ariah knows that time is of the essence, and that a war is coming. A lot is coming their way, and quite a bit of it they are not prepared for. While she has spent her time in Noslon with her new family and friends, the world around them has continued to die. The time for war is at hand, but it will be coming from more than one place. Ariah will be reunited with her family, and be able to experience some of the changes that have been happening. Ariah and all who love her must come together if they are to win the upcoming battles.
Reigning Ascent by Jen L. Grey is the third and final book in her Pearson Prophecy series. In this book, everything comes together as Ariah is reunited with her family and friends who believed her to be dead for a year. Ariah will fight to have those around her understand that she is not the girl that she was before. Since I began reading this series from the beginning I enjoyed it. I liked that despite what all Ariah was put through that she persevered. This book has quite a few engaging moments. The author grips you from the beginning and keeps you engaged from start to finish. The story is riveting as Ariah returns to the place where she suffered so much abuse. She’s determined to prove that she’s stronger now, but at the same time, we see that she’s still immature. I like how her brother tries so hard to protect her. He knows that pain that she suffered with before her “death” and only wants to protect her from that. I like the twists and surprises that the author writes into the story. I’d like to say that there are some hints to these surprises, but honestly…the author does a fantastic job keeping these surprises under wraps until the right moment. I’m glad that Emerson gets to be more of a character in this book as well. In the previous books, she’s been more of a glancing character that we know is around, but she’s more in this book. It’s nice to see the family come together and begin the healing process that they so desperately need.
While I enjoyed this book from start to finish overall, I do have some issues with it. Mainly, I just couldn’t stand 1) the bad attitudes all the time and 2) the double standards. When Aria meets her brother again after a year, she comes off as intolerant towards him. This bugs me from the beginning. When he asks her to talk ALONE Owen immediately inserts himself and tells Logan that they are a package deal. Instead of asking Owen to give them some space for a few minutes, she goes along with it. This irritates me. Logan has no idea who Owen is, but they both basically shove this down his throat. She could have said okay, and if something went down that she didn’t like she could easily have called him back over. Another thing I didn’t like is Ariah throwing her time away at Logan like it’s his fault. When she tells him that “he’s been gone a year” she acts like HE made that choice. That was both unfair and cruel. I also didn’t like how Aria, Owen, and Mer automatically expect everyone to be onboard with the fact that she’s different. To me this is ridiculous. When it’s convenient they decide to cut people some slack. But when it’s flipped back on them they expect people to be understanding. I feel that there are tons of double standards. No one can speak negatively about Aria without Owen or Mer snapping at them and riding to her defense. But they can say whatever to the others and it’s perfectly fine.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship concerning Owen in this book. I like that he is good for Ariah and protective of her, but I honestly despise his attitude half the time. He starts acting superior and I start to question where this is coming from. A major issue I have is when he literally kicks in her mother’s door, and then wants to have an attitude when she says him and Ariah can’t sleep together. He acts like because he’s a King that he should be able to throw his weight around and get what he wants. I was honestly shocked Aria says NOTHING to him behind his rude behavior. Instead, she sits there more often than not like a besotted girl and just thinks “oh how I love him.” I was hoping that the characters would be more mature with what they are facing, but at times come off as trite and childish. I feel they are constantly being rude and disrespectful.
Despite these issues I have with this book and the character flaws, I honestly liked this book. I literally was grabbed into the book from the beginning and up reading for hours because I wanted to know what happened next. I will admit that I feel that the ending was a bit rushed and cut short. I was expecting more of an epic battle that would not be resolved quickly, but what we get is a quick battle that is quickly over. We get a happily ever after with this story though. I like that things come together for all the characters in the end.
At the end of it all, I am rating this book 4 out of 5 stars. The storyline is engaging and well done. While I am disappointed in the characters behind their attitudes and double standards, I like that they manage to overcome the circumstances that are put before them. While there is no epic battle and conclusion to this story, it is still an engaging and interesting story. If you have read the previous books in this series, then pick this book and prepare yourself for the mayhem that is to come that is Ariah, Mer, Owen and those who surround them.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Ari has been strong throughout her journey, and I really enjoyed seeing how the individuals that generally gravitated toward her would help her achieve her best, no matter the situation at hand. I would recommend that readers that are interested in YA safe adventures with danger, close bonds between family and friends, and a heroine willing to rise above it all to protect those she loves.