Author: William Joyce
Rating: 4/5
Pitch and his nightmare men are still lurking so the Guardians must rally together one last time to defeat him.
Spoilers ahead.
Detailed Summary
It’s Christmas of 1933 and Jack Frost (Nightlight was turned into Jack Frost) decides he needs to go back to the Guardians. His hand which was injured during a massive battle against Pitch leading to his imprisonment hurts which means Pitch has something planned. He meets the other Guardians. Ombric has now become Father Time and he tells Jack to “Remember.” Jack and Katherine go to her palace. Katherine is known as Mother Goose and she records all stories. She can’t grow older than twenty-five and younger than twelve. Jack can’t go younger than eleven or older than eighteen. Jack continuously wipes his memory which Katherine doesn’t like. He asks her for a story and she tells him about the Battle and how he defeated Pitch. He had blocked North’s sword that was meant to kill Pitch with his hand hence the cut. He had devised this plan whilst dreaming and enlisted the other Nightlights’ help. Ombric had bought them time by slowing it down and that made him Father Time and he’s still quite weak. Pitch was arrested at the bottom of Big Root with Mother Nature guarding him well. Jack finishes the story by explaining where he had been during his disappearance. Werewolves had taken him to a family where the son was named Jack (a longer version of it). He spent time with them but one night, Pitch’s nightmare people found him and Jack realised that the cut he had sustained was a bridge between him and Pitch. To protect Jack and Ana and their parents, Jack submerged himself in ice. Then he gallivanted around London, encouraging poets and writers and fuelling children’s imagination. He wanted to keep Katherine and the others safe from Pitch hence keeping his distance. Pitch has been listening in to this story the whole time but Jack knows this and announces that the dagger he made from Pitch’s tears will be used against him. He commands Pitch to be released and for them all to go to Transylvania (the other Guardians were listening in on this because of their mind link). Toothiana feels strange so she flies in pursuit of the Monkey King. During the battle, Jack also senses Pitch hiding something from him and realises he has sent his people after Jack and Ana’s descendants so Jack tells Toothiana to attack. He stabs his injured hand thus killing Pitch, then shoots himself as an arrow to the house Toothiana is meant to defend and makes the fight in Tooth’s favour. He returns and leans over Pitch with Mother Nature. Pitch has changed back to the person he used to be. The book ends with Jack showing the Guardians his other family (aka Jack and Ana’s families) and he and Katherine are hinted to settle down there.
Review
If you’ve been following my reviews, you’ll know that I said I would riot if anyone came between me and Jack Frost because ever since I watched Rise of the Guardians as a youngling, I have had the biggest crush on him. I WAS DEVASTATED WHEN NIGHTLIGHT TURNED OUT TO BE JACK FROST!!! Even though I had sort of predicted that would be the case. You can’t just introduce a brand new character in the series finale, now, can you? Ugh, my disappointed heart.
I didn’t like the start of this book. I had no idea what the Battle of Bright Night was referring to and I was convinced that I had skipped a book in the series. I read a few reviews on Goodreads that assured me this was completely normal so waited with bated breath for things to be explained. After Katherine’s explanation where she told Jack his story, things made a lot more sense. I didn’t think this was the best way to go about explaining everything. I didn’t find Katherine’s narration particularly compelling even though she’s meant to be Mother Goose and innately talented at storytelling. I found Jack’s explanation of his life far more interesting to read. Honestly, I was a little bit annoyed with Katherine. She didn’t seem as fleshed out as the other Guardians. Everyone just keeps talking about how amazing she is and blah blah blah but she was only, like, fifteen(?) when she defeated Pitch yet I don’t know WHAT she brought to the table.
Anyway, it was really interesting to see how much Jack had changed from his earlier days as Nightlight. Plus it was cool to see the other Guardians in their element (i.e., North doing Christmas and Bunnymund organising Easter). Plus, there were some really pretty lines that made me swoon just a bit.
This is Ombric explaining why Nightlight and Katherine’s kiss was so powerful:
“For humans, the first kiss is the end of childhood and the beginning of the grown-up journey. When two beings understand each other completely and never tire of each other, when they are always eager to be in the other’s company, when they find delight even in the other’s faults and trust in everything they do, when absence brings both anguish and strength, and when hope is made solid, then a kiss brings forth the most powerful magic of all. It creates an unshakable belief. Belief in another.”
And then this:
“They forget how strong, how brave a child must be to live in the world of grown-ups.”
Damn right, it’s hard! 
Then this quote about growing up:
“Within every boy there is a man, and in every man, the memory of a boy,” he [Shadowbent] said. “Time to make the memories that will be your compass.”
My heart!!! Anyway, I thought this was definitely the best-written Guardians book overall.
Earnestly Eccentric 