Sweet Legacy concludes the Sweet Venom trilogy, which tells the story of the huntresses Gretchen Sharpe, Grace Whitfield, and Greer Morgenthal, descendants of Medusa, tasked with guarding the mortal world from monsters. These powerful teenagers are triplets, separated at birth, and now reunited to resolve a battle that has been brewing for millennia. At the core of the conflict is the fate of “the abyss,” the section of the Underworld that contains all the monsters—both good and bad—who have been banished from Earth and Olympus. One faction wants the abyss permanently sealed, which would kill every creature within; a second faction wants the door to the abyss opened so that monsters have free passage to Earth. Both sides want the huntresses dead. 

This volume takes the sisters from San Francisco to Olympus, as well as to the abyss, and it features a number of major and minor gods, as well as the various human, semi-divine, and monster characters who populated the first two books of the trilogy. Although the characters continue to capture the reader’s sympathy, this volume would have benefited from additional editing work. Frankly, although we care about the story and the fate of the characters, the action drags. Even as the mysteries left unanswered in the previous books are unraveled, and as potentially catastrophic events unfold, the chapters are a little too long and a little too slow. Nevertheless, the ending provides satisfying closure, yet remains open enough to allow for the possibility of a future spin-off. Should the author and publisher decide to take that route, I certainly would be excited to read more about the adventures of these appealing characters. --Nava Cohen