Abdullah is so underhyped it's frankly criminal. I reread book one in anticipation of this release, and I was still absolutely delighted to see how creatively she recapped the first book's plot at the start of The Ashfire King (we love our long-winded prince!!). It takes about 20% or so for the plot to really thicken in this installment and for the quest to kick in, but once it does, the action moves at breakneck speed. I need an entire glossary of the ifrit stories (please!!!!), because they are so fascinating and also I can't keep them straight, and every time Loulie tells herself "wow this magic really is too complicated for me to understand," I would think, same girl. My understanding of the magic that holds together the jinn realm is about as solid as the magic holding together the jinn realms, but I was still having a great time.

I love our little cast of found family misfits so much, and seeing the character development for each of our primary crew - Qadir, Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha - was so gratifying. The friendship and partnership between Qadir and Loulie is so damn pure and heartwarming and I just love seeing them fight for one another, and Aisha's journey to accepting the limitations of her own abilities and experiences is well done. I also deeply appreciate the exploration of duty and unasked-for responsibility in Qadir and Mazen's storylines and the ways the narrative questions the stories we tell about war. I cannot wait to see where we journey in book three.