I'm late in reviewing this because life got in the way. I started my review of Jasad Heir by saying that Essiya was always at the knife edge of anxiety regarding her lot in life. Always at the borderline of a total breakdown, which she did have, but her want to survive ultimately always wins out in the end.

In this book, she finally crosses the threshold and into accepting her role and whatever that entailed. It's interesting to me that Essiya, once she reaches that decision and even the prospect of death, does not quite accept the same for Arin. Recall, dear reader (especially those that have finished the book), that Arin was more than willing to die once he let himself get caught by the Urabi. I find it interesting that both of them see that as their most probable ending and yet...the two of them just loathe the idea of it going that way.

I especially love when Arin blatantly tells Sefa and Marek, "If she dies for them, they will die with her."

Gods these two.

And, holy moly....Arin, the man you are. Friggin' 10 steps ahead. He knew of Vaida's plan and had plans to counter that, vaguely knew where the Urabi hid themselves, dives deep and finds out about magic madness, depth of magic mining, truth of his parentage, and everything else besides, and would pave the roads with marble for Essiya if he had the time for it. Vaida was right. This man is obsessive to a T.

I digress. It's not all about Essiya and Arin after all. It's a great book. I loved the journey and I'm happy I decided to dive into it. One of the better slow burns out there which I greatly appreciate. None of that insta love/lust present in the genre. Plot actually matters and thank the book gods for that.

It's a five star for me even if I had issues with it. Mainly about the side characters. For the death of one of them, sad to say I wasn't surprised. I was honestly more devastated when Arin's loyal soldier was killed. Why was that? I just wasn't invested with Essiya's friends in the end.

Overall, one of the better reads this year. It's slotted itself in as a favorite. I read it in kindle and I hope I get physical copies in the future.