If you’re thinking about reading this series, do it. This book was leagues better than the first one and I am so happy I decided to pick up this series.

Firstly, just talking about the writing, there were so many lines in here that I was bookmarking the pages for, and wanted to quote in my forum posts. Hashem’s prose is beautiful, and her ability to infuse emotion and humor into the most basic of lines and descriptions is a talent that I feel not many writers have.

One of my biggest gripes with the first book (although I did love it) was that the plot felt weak and I wasn’t that interested in what was happening. I feel like that issue was resolved in this book, and all the plot events made sense, and kept the story going. I was constantly intrigued and wanted to know what was happening next. Despite being a 656 page book, the pacing was fantastic throughout, the suspense and tension woven in every scene.

My favorite part were the characters. Essiya and Arin as main characters are just perfect. They’re flawed, complicated, traumatized, and so interesting to read about. I’ve said it before but Essiya’s is probably one of my favorite main characters. Her humor, vulnerability, sadness, and love is so apparent in her voice and she’s literally unhinged. We got Arin’s POV a bit in the first book but we really get into his head in this one and he was so fascinating. I was surprised to see Sefa and Marek have POVs but I still really enjoyed them and it gave me a better understanding of them and their relationship with Essiya. The character arcs for all the characters, from beginning to end, were well written. Essiya stepped into her power, and Arin unraveled as the story went on and it was just a brilliant combination of plotting and character development that endeared these characters to me even more.

I genuinely did not know what was gonna happen at the end until the very end. Even in the last 15 pages the story was unpredictable, and it was like being on a roller coaster and not knowing what was going to happen next. The themes of hope, community, resistance, duty, and love were strong throughout and it really delivered. I’m really excited to read more of Hashem’s writing, and this is one of the best books I’ve read this year by far.

(side note: again this is an adult fantasy, NOT YA, and much more gory than the first book, so definitely prepare yourself)