I was teetering on the edge between three and four stars for this book, but by the end I think I felt a little more positively.

The beginning of this was a struggle for me. It was so exposition heavy and there was tons of dialogue just explaining the whole situation and all the magic. I couldn't connect with the story or the characters at all, and I was really worried about getting through the rest of the series. I get that, especially in high fantasy, you need to introduce entire worlds in addition to the story itself, but I think there's a better way to do it. And not connecting with the story also meant I spent a great deal of time being annoyed by nitpicky things because I wasn't enjoying it overall.

But around the halfway mark, it eased up. All of the basics had pretty much been explained, so it was a lot easier for me to get into the flow. It was fascinating. I really loved the dynamics between the characters. Kitty and Asher especially were a great duo. I adore them together, as a team against the world almost. And Asher's backstory is just superb. I keep hoping he doesn't die because he's my favorite and he would one hundred percent sacrifice himself at the slightest need.

And I really like how it offers so many perspectives. There are a lot of disagreements and personality clashes, but no one is really villainized by the narrative. They're just different and they're allowed to be different. It's really well done.

I think I did struggle with the dialogue throughout. It never really sounded like real people talking to me. It was always a little bit stilted. It got loads better in the second half, but I still found myself noticing it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I'd say if you're going to give this a go, commit to getting through the first half even if you're not enjoying it. It got infinitely better. I'm definitely continuing on with the series and would definitely recommend giving this a go.