These books definitely read as more historical fiction with a touch of magic rather than a historical fantasy, in my opinion. Which is fine! But since we get more of the gods in this book, I wished that some of those magical elements had been pushed a bit further. Give me more of that historical fantasy feel. Adding a bit more world building would have helped in that aspect, I think.

We also don't get as much Iris and Roman interactions in this one (because they are basically deliberately being kept apart), but I think that was important to help the overall story move forward. Their relationship, however, was probably the best part of the first book and I wished we got more of that in this book.

However, most of the characters are still very well written and they are what makes this book worth reading, in my opinion. Is it a good duology? Yes. But probably not the best that I've ever read.