Gray Dawn by Hailey Edwards [Review]

Gray Dawn (Black Hat Bureau #10) by Hailey Edwards
Format: paperback
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: January 31, 2024

Black Hat Bureau
1. Black Hat, White Witch
2. Black Arts, White Craft
3. Black Truth, White Lies
3.5. Black Soul, White Heart
4. Black Wings, Gray Skies
5. Gray Witch
6. Gray Tidings
7. Gray Court
8. Gray Seas
9. Gray Days
10. Gray Dawn - Paperback | Kindle

Hailey Edwards
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

In this tenth and final installment of The Black Hat Bureau series, Rue races the clock to find her little moth girl before it’s too late. As much as she wants to believe that Clay will protect Colby, he isn’t himself when he’s under the director’s thrall. And the director would toss a loinnir back like a shot of pure magic if he got his hands on her.

As if Rue doesn’t already have enough heaped on her plate, Luca is spreading her poison west in a twisted game of take-out roulette. Now Rue must decide if saving one life is worth sacrificing the dozens of innocents Luca will kill if Rue doesn’t make stopping her the top priority.

As the director, Rue ought to put her agents’ lives and the Bureau’s purpose above her own, but Colby is her child and—right or wrong—Rue would burn down the world to save her.

Thoughts on Gray Dawn: I have a notoriously hard time finishing up series I adore because I really REALLY don't want to end my time with characters I've come to like more than a little. So when I say this ending is both bittersweet and utterly glorious, keep that in mind. (But mostly hold the "utterly glorious" part up to examine.)

RUE AND ASA AND COLBY AND CLAY AND OMG I'M SAD TO SAY GOODBYE BUT BOY DID YOU GUYS GO OUT WITH A BANG. Not a literally bang, thankfully, but all the little threads got tied off and I AM DEEPLY PLEASED.

When last we visited with the crew, Clay had been betrayed by the magic that animates him, Colby was unintentionally moth-napped, Aedan is playing heir to a terrible queen, Rue and Asa (and the rest of the Bureau) are trying to get ahead of the poisoner, and...I don't even know. There's a lot. I mean, Rue is not only dealing with all this, but also a lot of deep-rooted familial things that are MESSED UP.

Now she has to figure out how to save Colby (because there's no way she's letting her little girl deal with things on her own), bring Clay back to himself, stop the poisoner before they reveal the existence of paranormals to humans, and keep her wicked grandmother from taking out her upsets with Rue on Aedan.

So much happens and it's so good and BITTERSWEET, my friends. My heart eyes are strong and I'm so very very happy with how things turned out for all of them.