Where to begin with my review for this one. I genuinely loved this book and it had me crying and laughing multiple times. This was more than just a cute cozy fantasy. There was so much depth and heart in this book. We dealt with racism, classism bigotry, not feeling good enough, an amazing found family and dealing with regret all in less than 300 pages. The plot was more than just building a restaurant and I was truly invested in the whole thing. The world building was just enough to have you grasping how the magic and society worked but also wanting more. I genuinely could read more books in this world. Rottgor is such a sweetheart and deserves the best. Astra needs to be protected at all costs. That child is perfect. I felt the same way finishing this book that I did coming out of the Superman movie…just filled with hope. This is truly sad to read at sometimes but the main theme is hope specifically hope for the future.

I am really loving this series. The magic system is so fun and really well thought out. The characters are some of my favorites and I just want this kids protected at all costs. I genuinely love the found family aspect especially with the Arcanist and their eldrins. The villain in this one is truly terrifying and so powerful. I do think the books start a bit slow but when we get going it is truly nonstop action. I also highly recommend the audiobook.

So I was so excited for this one. I love books with siblings, especially in the face of grief. Personally this just felt very surface level to me. It had so much potential. Having characters that feel stuck in between two worlds is so compelling but I feel like we didn’t dig into that enough. I was so intrigued by feeling lost and stuck as an adult especially when you lose someone you love deeply. Sadly, I don’t think we actually got into that. It was more trying to tell several different stories at once. We had so many different plot points where a lot of it was just told to us instead of actually shown. Which I hate. I really wish we picked one or two things and really focused on that. There was just a disconnect for me with the characters.