Holy shit it's always amazing. This series never stops being good. Sabaa Tahir you are an amazing visionary author. Just wow. Every chapter makes my jaw drop. She is just so smart. I swear. I could never.

I'm super bored. Why am I super bored?? Maybe I will love it when it picks up a bit, but right now, I am so extremely bored. I have the same level of interest in this book as a female marine biologist getting coral mansplained to her. I just don't care that much about Addie and nothing that has happened interests me particularly. But maybe I have to wait.

Only 17 percent in BTW. Only 17 percent in and he has probably mentioned a teenage girl's or young woman's anatomy in a sexual way like 5 times. Can we just focus on the Walk and the political themes. Do we need to do this in every book Steven? I would not blame anyone for DNFing because of it. Because I seriously don't want to hear about the boner he got while looking up a woman's skirt. Seriously dude???

Dude I think this book is like a cool 2 stars.

Let's start with what I liked

1. The romance. It was suprisingly good for a romantasy that's popular. Which is a nice change of pace. Speaking of pace, the romance was paced well. Which is another suprising turn. I expected them to rush into it a la ACOTAR, Fourth Wing, Powerless, etc. But they are really taking their time to build this relationship. The pacing is realistic given their pasts and circumstances. Not only that but Jaren is a genuinely nice guy who respects boundaries and doesn't push. He is helpful, listens, and isn't always trying to either flirt or have s-x. This is wonderful.

2. The mystery plotline around the illness spreading around. This is a fun part to read about and I honestly wished they delved more into fantasy medical knowledge and chronicled all the tests. Idk I wish that was the main plot here.

Which leads to what I didn't like. Buckle in.

1. The Ordeals. For the love of God can we stop trying to make the next Hunger Games. None of these authors understand why it worked in Hunger Games. It worked because the Capitol lives off of excess so them doing this extravagant BS makes sense. Why is a run down, slave owning, prison doing Trials?? Really??? That's so stupid and unecessary. It's idiotic. It would have been better if Tilda was slowly dying and she was rushing to not only cure her, but the inmates too. That would have been at least a 3 to 4 star book.

2. The useless and dumb magic. Just why. I know it's a fantasy. But fantasy doesn't always have to mean magic. Elemental magic?? Really? We ran out of ideas??? If we were to do magic, I would prefer something more creative. This is just so bleh.

3. The politics of the book. It reeks of liberal (from a leftist). The way they keep defending the bourgeoisie royals is pissing me off. Kiva keeps saying "The royals killed my family." And immediately backtracks for PR reasons. No babe. Stand on that. Death to the bourgeoisie lady! Tear down the prison. Don't "restore order". We must destroy this system that oppresses the proletariat. End the guards and warden. Burn it all down. Burn the royal castle too. They keep on sending people to this death camp. They should be removed from power. Permanently. I am never and will never be a royalist.

4. The twist with the illness was so uncreative. The one I thought of was way more suprising and shocking. This felt tame in comparison.