I only just realised that this was available! After having inhaled the trilogy last year, I was very excited to get some insight into the Urovan royalty, seeing as in previous books we got insight into the goings-on of two other kingdoms. I especially loved how there were new words for the royals and nobles. Still, Isar Rodian probably is a lot different than what the Urovan royalty used to be but his perspective was direct and he didn't take any shit from anyone.

In the previous trilogy, a blade was also present and used diligently without anyone involved taking much issue with it. Here, Arkadi, a young blade, is ready to be dismissed as soon as his affiliation (profession?) comes out. And yet, Arkadi is sweet and smart and reliable when it comes to his Isar. Their romance was not rushed per se but seeing as the book itself was slightly over 100 pages, of course things went rather quickly. I would have liked more worldbuilding and plot but you can't fit everything into this small of a form.

Very sweet! I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read it during my senior year of high school. Still, it's a story that through Harper shows that vocational trade is a valid choice of work; through all the characters shows that being queer in a small town isn't all bad as long as you have your community and support.

I did laugh and snort when Harper asked Ollie "if you're not playing a lesbian barbarian with a battleaxe, what are you doing" because there are many other characters to make. And then a few seconds later I realised that one of my more played dnd characters is a lesbian barbarian with a polearm. Pot, meet kettle, honestly.

Additionally, the audiobook was done really well. I really liked that a third person read the dnd chapters aloud. It made it seem as if Ev or someone else was telling us about what is going on in the campaign.

I really enjoyed how all three main characters get their own chapters in here. I especially enjoyed Moira's chapters - she's truly a wonderful magician as well as super competent (and she's only like what, 25?). Her relationship with David, which in the first book was non-existent and then strained, blossoms wonderfully here and the two of them have such potential! And of course there's Rhys. Where do I even start with him... Both powerful and filled with so much anxiety that I'm not sure how he didn't combust. I feel like the entire story is about how much Rhys can keep secret and how sometimes you can't have all your metaphorical balls in the air because eventually each of them will come down and bonk you on the head. So while I would have liked to have seen more magical backstabbing, I was ultimately happy with how Rhys' and others' story ended.

Shoutouts to Leta (I listened to the audiobook so I might be completely misspelling here) for being an absolute queen, and for Maximilian for giving Rhys the 'oh no my boyfriend likes an older competent guy who is so much cooler than me what do i do' anxieties.