RTC but for now i am just shouting from my bed!!

******

ARC provided but all these thoughts are my own.

i am not ok. you will not be okay. NO ONE IS OKAY, okay?!

back in the enchanting world of ellorhys, we begin right where DoSS ended. it gives all the vibes of villainous disney meets game of thrones.

and let me tell you, our new pal shura (you know, the guy from the epilogue who scared the crap out of us?) is just out here flexing on us with his power, his goals, and his too many years head start. he came out swinging and he will not stop. he is the kind of man who is terrifying, ruthless, and has a massive god complex (pun intended), but you also kinda maybe have a crush on him. maybe that is just me and i need to work on this in therapy some more.
issaria and calix were set on a quest by their third wheel, aurelia. and my poor poor babies, don't we know better than to trust the voices in our heads (bodies?)? oh, the places they will go! but seriously, we got to see so much more of this world, and it did not disappoint. you begin to see much more of the effects of the magic curse that is destroying the world, and the willingness of people to make it better. but you never can figure out whose "better" will win out in the end.
and we can never, and will never, forget about elon saintheart. schrodinger's elon. the rock for issaria's people who never knew what was coming (if ykyk). i salute you.

this book holds no punches. i spent a lot of time cursing the author in my head (but in the fun way) because there was never a moment of god damn safety for anyone. the stakes were sky high at all times, and boy howdy, it got me sweating. i appreciate that the darkness and violence of the world had real consequences for each and every character, big or small. it felt precarious and tense, and that made the reading experience one million times better.

the elemental magic shines. it walks this perfect line of mundanity and epic. magic exists, everyone knows it, and most people use it in a way to make their day to day life easier. and then the big mythos walk into the room. we now see our celestial players outmatch everyone and this, fellow readers, is a tale as old as time. but hubris is about to square off against ingenuity, and it is time we take bets on who will win. and i honestly don't know who will reign victorious. and that is why i loved this book.

the lore is tight. the prose is dreamy. the world building is BUILDING.

this book is a ride, a leviathan, fast paced but there was still enough time to enjoy the small things, to explore the new places, and explore the hearts of everyone.