Glorious Poison is the final book in the Battalion of the Dead series by Kat Dunn. And what a glorious ride it has been through these three books. Our intrepid crew is pretty broken at the start of the novel. Guil and Olympe are captured and imprisoned by the evil Duc, Camille is slowly wasting away, but at least with James and Al. And poor Ada is all alone, playing double agent as a protegé to the Duc and his dastardly plans to turn Olympe into a weapon.

I think what this book did well was show how the team couldn’t quite get things together without being together. They each brought something to the plans and confidence of the crew to win the day. But now they were floundering as Camille’s illness started to take its toll and they couldn’t rely on her to be strong. As plans started to take shape and connections were made between characters, things started to get better, plans started to form and the Battalion started to pull itself together.

If you liked the previous books, you’ll also like this one. It’s full of these lovely, vibrant characters, who you’ve got to know over the previous books. They’ve always faced danger before, but it’s a different sort of struggle they have in this book. It feels like a real triumph at the end, a great cap to the end of the series.

I loved spending some quality time in the company of these lovely characters one more time. I also really enjoyed the ambiguous state of the group matching the parlous state of France at the team. The Terror had ended but you can begin to see the restoration looming on the horizon. They had to navigate the new world, where previous enemies could now be seen alongside each other.

Even though the team doesn’t have many wins throughout this book, it really is their toughest challenge being fragmented, the pay off the end is worth the wait (if a bit heartbreaking). There is an absolutely amazing quote by Camille at the height of the action as well, which I could just see in my mind. As well, Al’s redemptive arc is so wonderful, I’m so happy that he gets a happy ending.

You should definitely pick up the final book if you haven’t already, or the entire series if you haven’t had the pleasure. I’m going to miss the Battalion for sure.