*3.5 stars, but an extra .5 for kitay, venka, and rin trio
(triggers at the end)

for a lot of this installment, i was wondering what was happening. i was trying to deconstruct what they were speaking on, what battles we were heading into, what they were prepping and planning for- sometimes i got it, sometimes i didn't, but i don't think that was the point.

a lot of this book was rin and her pain, her trauma from the previous story, and really, many characters coming to terms with what happened in the poppy war.

i laughed, i cried, i seethed! the holy trinity, just like rin, kitay, and venka. those are my holy trinity, no one else in this book deserves happiness as much as these three do and if the last book doesn't give it to me, there will be rioting in the street. these three were put through the absolute ringer and then some, but came out strong and with each other in the end and i :(( cried a lot because of these three, fuck.

also, i was real ready to sing high praises for a CERTAIN character, but i have since redacted them from my memory and am thus pretending they do not exist :)

trigger warnings for
torture (graphic), drug addiction, substance abuse, death of a loved one, extreme bodily harm, detailed descriptions of dead bodies, sexual harassment, rape (on-page, recollected), war themes, body gore, forced consumption of substances, grief, self harm, racism, imperialism, colonization, genocide