In the heart-pounding conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Diabolic series, the Empire teeters on the edge of destruction as rumors spread that Nemesis is still alive.
Three years ago, Tyrus Domitrian shocked the galaxy by killing the woman he swore to love forever. The woman for whom he upended the Empire. The woman with whom he wanted to build a new and brighter future.
Now, the once-idealistic heir apparent has become the cruel Emperor Tyrus, wielding his authority with an iron fist, capable of destroying planets with a single word, controlling all technology with a simple thought. He has bent the Grandiloquy to their knees, and none has the power to stand against him.
But there is a muttering among the Excess. They say that Nemesis is not truly gone. They whisper of her shadow spotted in distant star systems. They say that Nemesis lives. That she will rise, and rally the people to topple the man who was once her truest love—and is now her fiercest enemy.
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“We’d vowed to make this galaxy better.
He’d had such beautiful dreams.
How to salvage a dream, when the dreamer himself had been destroyed?”
I am speechless. This book made me legit cry 😭
I need time–ya’ll are not ready for this devastation.
“What good was a fight without something to defend? Even Diabolics needed love to power our hate.”
The Nemesis took a long time to reach us, but by the gods was it worth the wait. The Diabolic was a good, fun read. It had its moments of devastation, but overall you got the feeling that everything would somehow work itself out. In Empress you soon realized that happiness was not something built to last, as S J Kincaid basically ripped our hearts out. The Nemesis? uuuuf. Empress upped the stakes and Nemesis delivered the punch.
All the characters have layers upon layers of complicated histories–Neveni for one; I wanted to literally strangle her on various occasions. She went from a sweet girl/friend, to basically the most hunted terrorist in the galaxy. Talk about a 180! I just couldn’t understand why Nemesis kept forgiving her for everything she did, but then that is the burden of a Diabolic, to love fiercely even when they shouldn’t and to protect those they love even from themselves. I wouldn’t have forgiven her, so Nemesis is a much better person than me. I loved that Anguish is now part of the team! He is a lot of times the voice of reason, and the one who SEES things for what they are. Anguish and Nemesis’ brother/sister relationship was just what was needed in this very dark novel. They were a breath of fresh air, and gave each of them someone outside of a romantic relationship to hold on to.
“For their young Emperor had turned into a terror, a creature of unpredictable moods and merciless whims.”
TYRUS–I feel like anything said about Tyrus would be spoilery; let’s just say he is one of the most interesting characters in the series and he delivers 1000x times in this novel. I do so hate to place a beloved character in the role of a villain, but it is the complicated kind of hate where I love where Kincaid took the story but it hurts to see them in that position.
Oh and Nemesis-I loved that in this book is where we get I think the truest face of Nemesis, not a full Diabolic, not a human, but a blend of both. Which, duh, the title of the novel but it is so true. Nemesis has been struggling with her identity from the first time she had to become Donia, and I think she finally found the balance needed to live her best life. We get to see her suffer a lot, because of Tyrus, a bit because of Anguish. We also get to see her struggle with her love for Donia and how complicated it is since she is the whole reason Nemesis even begun to think she could be more.
I would have loved to see a short novella or something of how the Empire looks thousands of years later. What changes Nemesis and co brought to the galaxy. The novel ends on a perfect note, so it is just curiosity. I am so looking forward to whatever S. J. Kincaid writes next!! I love all her books, including her first series Insignia. She is a master storyteller. She writes the first book in a way that makes the reader fall in love with the world and characters, getting you comfortable, only to pull the rug from under you and deliver sequels which are wonderful and layered and gut wrenching but ultimately smart and human 🖤
PS; For spoilery comments check out the Goodreads review 😉
PPS; I wish the title was just “Nemesis” instead of “The Nemesis”.
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
For the Sake of Reading 