I liked this book, but I can’t lie it was not as good as The Will of the Many. Without revealing too much, the world and the conflict expands significantly in this book, including via multiple POVs instead of one. I struggled to feel invested in the additional characters and world building in this one and still felt a tad confused at the end. I am excited for the last book and think there is potential for this to lead to an epic conclusion, but I hope book three returns to the aspects of Vis that originally made me love his character and journey - his relationships with his friends, his family, and his home.

don’t gasp yet, I did enjoy this, however there was a touch of boredom that tinged my reading experience.

TSOTF has a really compelling start. Fresh from the events of TWOTM, I really enjoyed the switching multi-POVs that allowed for unique insight into different characters while also introducing new stakes and clear goals to work towards. the middle, for the most part, continued to hold my attention. there began to be a hierarchy (😋) in my POV preference, but the pacing balanced pretty well to provide intrigue and propel the story forward.

my main critique falls to the ending. I found myself heavily tiring from the constant POV switching which now felt like a bothersome interruption; as the plot action and character dynamics amped up, the constant cliffhangers made the story feel unfocused, diluted tension and made lore confusing.

I mostly really love James’s writing. it can be a bit long-winded but the description, along with the present tense, 1st person POV, means scenes are vivid and immersive… until a fast-paced action scene is taking place. I found the many present tense ‘I’ statements hard to follow when in quick succession, but likely this is simply a me problem.

I don’t think i’m disappointed, but more dissatisfied in my reading experience; it was quite different to how I felt while reading TWOTM. but! I remain intrigued to where we go from here, and do look forward to reading the third book.