— 4.25 stars —

A great second book in the Grisha series. Unfortunately, I felt a tiny bit less involved in the story this time (maybe because I read [b:Shadow and Bone|22819449|Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438121335s/22819449.jpg|15093325] four months ago and it wasn't really fresh in my mind, or maybe because I just wasn't in the right state of mind, I don't know...).

I absolutely loved the addition of Nikolai. He's such an interesting and funny character. He's charming for sure, but also really smart, and he quickly became a favorite of mine.

"Do you take anything seriously?"
"Not If I can help it. Makes life so tedious."

I appreciated the importance of the political aspect. The world building, just like in the first book, is absolutely amazing and I really liked the characters (Mal annoyed me a little in this one, just like Alina,

until she found the second amplifier, which for me added something more to her behavior and character and I really appreciated

). I found the middle of this book to be a little slow, but I loved when there were any kind of plot twists and I was happily surprised by the end!

Overall, it was a great read!