I loved Tamora Pierce as a kid, but it was always her Tortall universe books that stole my heart. I read the Circle of Magic books as well, but for me there was a little something missing. I never quite connected with them the same way and I never fell in love with those characters and stories. Until this book. This was the book that finally hooked me, and it will forever be one of my absolute favorites of all her books, Tortall or Emelan.

Perhaps it's because the characters are older and have grown up. I came to this series a little bit later and being 13-17 reading about ten year olds can be a little difficult to relate to. (I find it easier again now that I'm an adult, funnily enough.) They're eighteen here and a mature eighteen at that. This is essentially new adult because most of their concerns by now are true adult concerns. They're no longer coming of age- they're discussing marriages and careers and buying property. They already have their place in the world and strong values, and their growth builds on top of that foundation.

I love the way the romantic relationships are handled here. With four main characters, it allows for such diversity in terms of the types of relationship. They fall in love and have casual flings and make poor decisions and get broken hearts. And every single one of them was so well developed. Their lives feel so full in every capacity.

I will admit, it's a little slow to start. The characters have all been apart for years travelling so a good portion of the beginning is spent bringing them together and convincing them all to go on one trip together. It can be the teensiest bit bland to get through, but they're all so familiar by this point, nine books into this world, that I don't really mind.

But by the final third, I'm beyond hooked. I think I read the last two hundred pages in one go because I literally couldn't put it down. It's like one long climax and even with this being my third or fourth reread, I was holding my breath with anticipation. It's so much fun and so so exciting. I love it.

I'm still not in love with the rest of the series, but I will always recommend them if only to get to this book because I think this is a masterpiece of YA fantasy. I continue to hold out hope that one day Pierce will write a book that takes place after this one. Just fantastic. Always a wonderful experience to return to this.