I was really really worried going into this knowing that it took Sabaa years to write Ember. I was so afraid it would fall short because of how fast she'd had to write this book. But let me tell you, Sabaa delivered a sequel worthy of its predecessor.

We delve deeper into the Empire than we ever have before and its fantastic. I love the darkness of the world that Sabaa has created. She's not afraid to be ruthless with her characters and to make them suffer.

This books absolutely left me reeling. I'm so upset that I'll have to wait another year for the next in the series (since she announced two more to come!!). I have so many questions and so many unresolved feelings.

I'm going to leave it here for now, until everybody else gets a chance to read it.

2018 reread: imagine me. but screaming.