Review of Torrent by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Title: Torrent (River of Time, #3)
Author: Lisa Tawn Bergren
Published by: David C. Cook
Source: Bought
Format: ebook
Rating: 3 stars

Summary from Goodreads:  Gabriella and Evangelia Betarrini are just two normal American teenagers. Normal except for the fact that they time travel to fourteenth-century Italy, where they’ve lived in castles they’ve seen as crumbling ruins, become swept up in historic battles, and fallen in love with handsome knights willing to do anything to keep them alive.

They’ve returned to the present to save their father, just short of his tragic death, and now all four return to the place that holds the girls’ hearts, medieval Italy. But remaining there means facing great risk as the battle for territory wages on and the coming Black Plague looms. Can they convince their parents to stay and leave behind everything they’ve worked so hard to accomplish? And will the girls sacrifice their futures in an uncertain past? Or in facing death head-on, will they discover life as it was always meant to be lived?

I'm sure you've all heard it before and experienced it for yourself, but the end of a series is quite bit bittersweet for me.  I love that most of the endings get tied up all neat and tidy, but at the same time I know I'll miss the characters.  I absolutely loved Waterfall.  It was new and exciting, but for some reason Cascade and Torrent didn't live up to the first novel.  Sure they were fun and exciting, but that spark was missing for me.

Torrent is filled with battles, fights, capture, marriage and death.  It literally has it all.  I felt like we flew from one event to another without much downtime to spend with the characters and really get to know them.  There were a couple new characters that turned out to be real gems.  Lisa Tawn Bergren isn't afraid to introduced new characters throughout the series.  This gives readers soem fresh faces to focus on and even more characters to become attached too.

Another part of the book that was beautifully written was Gabi's struggle with her beliefs.  I felt this was very realistic as she questioned other's beliefs and tried to find her stance on God and religion in general.  I love that Father Tomas was so gentle and never pushed or prodded, only showed Gabi through his actions and beliefs.  He was a kind and gentle soul and I truly wish I could have met him.

I enjoyed this series and I'm happy with the way it ended. 

What other YA series do you love the endings for?