Rituals (Cainsville #5) by Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Sphere
Goodreads Summary: The fifth book and the exciting conclusion to bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's "impossible-to-put-down" Cainsville series, in which she mixes hard-hitting crime writing with phenomenal world-building to create a brand of fiction all her own.


When Olivia Taylor-Jones found out she was not actually the adopted child of a privileged Chicago family but of a notorious pair of convicted serial killers, her life exploded. Running from the fall-out, she found a refuge in the secluded but oddly welcoming town of Cainsville, Illinois, but she couldn't resist trying to dig out the truth about her birth parents' crimes. She began working with Gabriel Walsh, a fiendishly successful criminal lawyer who also had links to the town; their investigation soon revealed Celtic mysteries at work in Cainsville, and also entangled Olivia in a tense love triangle with the calculating Gabriel and her charming biker boyfriend, Ricky. Worse, troubling visions revealed to Olivia that the three of them were reenacting an ancient drama pitting the elders of Cainsville against the mysterious Huntsmen with Olivia as the prize.

In the series' fifth and final novel, not only does Gabriel's drug addict mother, who he thought was dead, make a surprise reappearance, but Kelley Armstrong delivers a final scary and surprising knock-out twist. It turns out a third supernatural force has been at work all along, a dark and malevolent entity that has had its eye on Olivia since she was a baby and wants to win at any cost.
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: 
Olivia Taylor-Jones is running out of time. She must choose a side before darkness reigns over everything. But is there a third choice for her to make? In Rituals, all your previously unanswered questions will be brought into the spotlight, their answers revealed as you join Liv on her journey...

In Rituals, Olivia, Ricky and Gabriel must face their toughest challenges yet, both individually and as a team. As they fight to defy history and write a happy ending for themselves, a new enemy will slither out from the shadows and into their path, threatening to destroy everything they have worked so hard for. They must redefine their relationships and become better people in order to stay together and not be torn apart by the rocky road.

I love all the different cultures discussed in this book! While they aren't much, I enjoyed the mention of Greek, Scottish and Gaelic lore as well as Welsh of course. Rituals is filled with mythology and culture. Helia and Alexios are super cute, I'm so glad they made it into this book, their ending is a perfect finale. Gabriel's character arc is beautiful and well written.

Rituals in three words? Conflict. Adventure. Love. Olivia gets to explore a new ability, we get a strange new enemy which I kind of like despite its pure evilness. All the characters seem to be super sassy towards their enemies, especially Olivia, and it's so amusing. Kelley Armstrong has really amped up the drama and intrigue for this final Cainsville book. Everything comes to a close as the cycle of Matilda, Gwynn and Arawn is finally completed correctly.
Purchase Location: Borrowed From Library
Edition:
 Hardcover
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Recommended for: Fans of mythology.