Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Let's face it. It doesn't take all that much to rewrite archetypal fairy tales. What takes talent is making something whole and new up out of the depths of the imagination. I find this trilogy sorely lacking on both points, the rewrite and the "new" aspects of the story. I guess the threshold is very low. Sorry, can't recommend it. It's pretty on the cover, but the writing is stiff and not all that original.
Rating: 
Summary: Sappy and contrived
Review: The first two volumes in the series were better, though occasionally I had problems with reinvented fairy tales, and admire more the writers who actually come up with their own ideas completely. But this book reeked, I'm sorry. In an attempt to be more action oriented, Ms. Marillier falters badly. She should stick to the more romantic fairy tale fantasy she writes. There will always be a market for retold fairy tales, sadly.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not Great
Review: Child of the Prophecy is a tale in which young Fianne is forced by her Aunt Oonagh to travel to Sevenwaters and prevent the prophesy from coming true. Fianne does not want to obey her aunt, but has no choice. I enjoyed the first two books in this series much more than I liked Child of the Prophesy. I felt that the plot was contrived and shallow. The ending was a series of deus ex machinas thrown together to kill off various characters and quickly tie up any plot threads. I found that the final battle was unneccesarily prolonged, after the fifth tragic character leaped in front of a spear to save another character, I almost put the book down. I enjoyed revisiting many of the characters from Marillier's first two books, particularly Liadan and Bran. The antagonising of Fainne by Oonagh is too easily explained away. It seems as though the author has run out of ideas and tries to dispose of all of the conflicts as quickly as possible. The prose was not as gripping as it was in the previous two novels. Child of the Prophecy is a good read, but it is not as good as Marillier's first two novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely ending.
Review: This book was not as indepth as the other two, though it was very good and easy to read like the others.If you read the other two make sure you do read this one as well, it's definately worth it as it finishes the set bautifully.It was like going home after a long holiday. I can't wait for her next book, and only hope its not to long to wait. Seven Waters Trilogy is definatly my favorite!
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome ending to an awesome trilogy!
Review: I don't agree with or understand some of the opinions of this book. The intrigue and contrast in this book was amazing. Fainne was amazing. The Daughter of the Forest will always hold a special place in my heart. Sorcha, Red, Ben, John, Finbar, Conor, Lady Oonagh, Simon, Margarie...they are all such amazing characters. The plot is incredible, the feelings so true, and the terror so real. Juliet captured my heart with this book. I waited for the second book with such anticipation, and at first I was dissapointed, Liadan was so different than Sorcha. And the whole set up of the book was so much different. Liadan wasn't set to a task as Sorcha was, Liadan didn't care to marry, Liadan wasn't Sorcha. Then it hit me, if Liadan was like Sorcha, what would the fun of the book be? I read it a second time, and I fell in love. Bran is such a passionate person. Eamonn was so good at what he did. Liadan was so amazingly refreshing. Once I had read Son of the Shadow 5 million times, I couldn't wait for Child of the Prophecy. And when I got the book, I read. I didn't read like I normally did, though. Usually I sit in my bed or on my couch, I don't put the book down until I'm finished, but this was different. I was reading a trilogy and this was the third book. Once I closed the back cover, all would be over, all would be solved. So, I went to the forest by my house. I laid on my hill and read as the wind whipped though my hair. I could hear the wind rustling in the trees. As I read the book, I came to a knew understanding of mother nature, and of it's beauty. I read slowly, I cherised every chapter, every page, every word. Once I was done, I was done...sure I could read it again, but I knew what happened. For the first 2 days I read slowly; I was only about half through the book by the end of the second day. But when I started reading the third day, I couldn't stop. It was the most beautiful thing in the world. Fainne was so much different then Sorcha and Liadan in every respect. She looked different, she was raised different, and she was born different. A sorceress, bound to a certain path by ancient, evil things. The book was such a surprise. I thought I would be disappointed when I turned the final page, but Juliet must be a sorceress herself, for when I finally closed the last book in my favorite series, a great peace filled me. I don't know how to describe it. All is not well, the future definetly isn't going to be all roses and sunshine, but every thing felt right. It was beautiful. I highly recommend this book and this trilogy, if you've got any sort of magic in you, you'll love it. Good, evil, love, hate, joy, terror, smiles, tears, men of Briton, men of Erin, a complete and utter feeling of peace that is nothing other than rightness, and surprise that grip the heart and soul. Juliet can do anything.
Rating:
Summary: Had to hold my nose on this one
Review: I think Juliet should have quit while she was ahead. The first two books were fairly good, even if the first person narration was grating at times. But this last book was unbearable. It had a bitterness to it that the others didn't, a kind of pettiness that was not sympathetic, it was merely annoying. Additionally, I found a number of details historically inaccurate or inconsistent. The first two are worth buying in paperback. This last one isn't worth having at all.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Ending
Review: The novel was a lovely ending to the Sevenwaters series. It ranged from intense sorrow, disgust, confusion and love, to happiness in the end. The character intricacies were wonderful and the extension of the already known characters from previous novels (ex. Liadan, Connor, Johnny, etc.) were shown in an unexpected light. I must admit that at times I did not know which direction she would choose and read eagerly to find out, hoping all the while that she would go with her heart and mutally worrying about what would happen if she did. I found the novel a great ending to great series with the presentation a modern ethos at the end thereby related to our own time and forever more.
Rating:
Summary: Another shadow at Sevenwaters
Review: While, like _Son of the Shadows_, _Child of the Prophecy_ is never quite as wonderful as _Daughter of the Forest_, it is nevertheless a good book, and worth reading if you liked the first two. This one is darker in tone. In _Daughter_, the heroes and villains were clearly delineated; in _Son_ the line between the two was more hazy, but the heroine herself was beyond reproach. In _Child_ the heroine, Fainne, is a conflicted and flawed character in ways that Sorcha and Liadan never were. Fainne, child of the forbidden union of Ciaran and Niamh, is raised by her father in the lonely reaches of Kerry. When her father falls ill, Fainne's grandmother, the evil Oonagh, takes Fainne under her wing. The sorceress has a diabolical plan that will destroy all of the good of Sevenwaters, and Fainne is to be her tool. Through threats and emotional blackmail, she presses the girl into her service; through trickery, she causes Fainne to do some truly terrible things. Fainne feels she is destined to be forever evil and forever alone, and so she does not fight back--until the people of Sevenwaters reach out to her, and she begins to understand love and family. "You forget," says one character, "that every girl has two grandmothers." Once Fainne begins to grow a spine, the dark and depressing narrative turns passionate and exciting. How can she carry out Oonagh's scheme? Is it possible to fight her? How strong can Fainne be? Again, while this is not the romantic "fairy tale" of _Daughter_, it is an engaging story and a fitting ending to the Sevenwaters saga. Fainne is much more than she seems. If you can get through the first half of the book, you'll love the second half.
Rating:
Summary: Sevenwaters Trilogy
Review: Yet another trilogy about how Great Britain caused the death of Avalon. Ho Humm. I read this third book in 4 hours - tomorrow I'm off to a local "buys used books" bookstore which gives good prices and buy something more engaging and unique.
Rating:
Summary: A Bitter End for a Great Trilogy
Review: I loved the first two books of this trilogy, so I was highy distressed yesterday when I finished Child of the Prophecy. Instead of an uplifting story about a strong young woman triumphing over impossible odds with the help of a beautifully realized companion characters (as in the first two books) this one seems mostly concerned with how much torture and brutality a despised and abandoned child can withstand. While I certainly didn't expect Lady Oonagh to be anything but evil, I was horrified by her uncontested abuse and manipulation of Fainne. Instead of a journey during which Fainne finds friends and allies who help her overcome her terror and confussion, we are locked inside the mind of a terrified child, who refuses (over and over) to see the good in herself. After a horrifying beginning in which Oonagh manipulates Fainne through physical torture and by threatening everyone Fainne loves, we are dragged through 400 pages of Fainnes' self loathing and unshakable guilt. While things do eventually turn around, for me, it was too little, too late. --Sandy Saidak, high school teacher and book lover
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