Well… this was interesting. 

To begin, the timeline of my feelings about this book: 

0-30% – Started off pretty strong, and I was having a good time. 

40-50% - LOVED the drama. 

50-70% - Meh. 

70-95% - Dear lord when is it going to end? 

95-100% - We got back in the groove. 

**SPOILERS FROM HERE** 

To elaborate on my thoughts – 

Pretty good start, which I felt was similar in quality to book 1. 

There were some things that annoyed me, like Oraya’s refusal to escape the city during the armoury attack. All the way until this point her only thoughts were ‘woe is me’ and ‘I have to escape’, and then the first chance she gets she doesn’t even attempt to escape? It was a decision purely to serve the plot, and not one that made sense for her character at all. 

Also, Broadbent made pretty much no effort to remind the reader of plot points/info from book 1. So many character details (like Mische trying to get her magic back) were just talked about as if the reader could remember every exact detail from book 1, without even a hint of summary. It left me unsure what information I should know already, and what was meant to be a surprise/reveal in this book.
 
40-50%

My GOD the drama was amazing. I was fucking enthralled. 

The make-up sex scene was also pretty hot, apart from Raihn saying on at LEAST three separate occasions that ‘everything fell away’ when Oraya did something to him. If ‘everything’ fell away the first time, what was left for the other two??
 
50-70%

Nothing special, but nothing offensive. 

I did find it absolutely bizarre that Raihn and Oraya swam through a sewer twice in one day, both with a tonne of open wounds from the day before, THEN kept those same shit leathers on for two weeks without washing, and somehow didn’t get a single infection?? As fucking if. 

On the positive side, I came to really love Raihn and Mische’s strong platonic relationship, with never a hint of sexy time. Was genuinely refreshing to read. If she ends up a lesbian though, strike that from the record. 

70-95% 

The downfall of this novel. 

EVERYTHING was so dragged out. I just wanted it to be over. 

It was SO obvious that everything was going to turn out ok, they were going to win, and no-one important was going to die. It meant there was absolutely zero stakes, so I didn’t care about any of it. I wish I had been proved wrong. 

I also started to get so sick of Oraya and Raihn’s relationship dynamic. Pretty much the whole book was them ‘realising how truly in-love’ they are with each other, as if we didn’t already get that from the first book?? That meant that when they’d finally ‘made up’ there was nothing new at all, just the same stuff over and over. Inanely repetitive. 

The writing also seemed to take a massive dive in this section as well. It suddenly felt really amateurish, and I’d never seen Broadbent’s writing as such before this point. 

We also never got told so much worldbuilding information. Like what did the god’s body parts actually do?? Simon looked evil for a bit and had stronger powers, but it was nothing close to being as destructive as they were making it out to be. 

And the blood?? Oraya seemed to immediately know she could kill anyone she wanted with it, but how did she know? We never knew properly, so the stakes were never there. 

Then Oraya was so fucking shocked that the god, whose biggest tribute event is a contest where everyone kills each other, doesn’t want there to be peace in her land? Idiot. 

The double god involvement at the end just felt really cheap. Wow, here the gods come to solve all our problems with the snap of a finger. What was the whole bloody point of the book then? 

And another question – have a Rishan and a Hiaj ever had a kid together?? Obviously they must have, but we haven’t been told what the result would be. Really feels like something that could and should have been at least mentioned in this book, both with Oraya and Raihn’s relationship and the two sides now coming together. 

Suddenly it got good again. I’ve realised Broadbent is good at writing the intimate person to person a stuff (romance, rivalries, friendships), and pretty bad at large scale wars/political climates/world building. If she were to write a cosy fantasy or something, it could be really good. 

I did think it was completely fucking wild that they’re all still worshipping Nyaxia when she’s literally done nothing to help them and is going to try to take revenge at some point. She only saved Raihn at the Kejari because it was Oraya’s right after winning. What the fuck else has she done?? 

 

So to some up, this plot was horrendously fucking messy, and the good parts could not outweigh the bad. 

I was also disappointed by the lack of Lilith content, especially because she’s my favourite character in this world. Did her and Oraya ever even interact once?? What was the point of having a novella about her if we don’t get to see any more of her??
 
 I wasn’t interested in continuing this series, but seeing as the next book is in House of Shadow, I may have to give it a go. Wish me luck.