Rebecca Ross first appeared on my radar with The Elements of Cadence duology, which I read in 2022 and still haven't been able to shut up about (sorry, friends). 

So naturally, I was really excited for this duology as well, but it was just nowhere near the same level for me, and I'm utterly disappointed. Even though I really liked the first 30% or so of the book, it didn't save this story because the root of the issue is much deeper for me. 

The entire time I felt as if it just didn't add up or make sense, as if the basics of the story were still undeveloped. I wasn't convinced of the backstory, and the whole premise of

Enva appearing to Iris and others in dreams and the goddess herself doing nothing about the war for all this time was such a disappointment. There was no reason why Iris had to be the one to learn about the sword. She could have told literally anyone in the first days of the war how to kill Dacre, but instead she let the streets fill with innocent blood.

There were other moments that made me scratch my head, such as

why Dacre never wondered why Shane would have Roman's confession.

I also didn't feel the affection I felt for Iris and Roman in the first book. I actually didn't feel a connection to anyone because it was a jumbled mess. The way the characters kept remembering recent moments and then acting surprised because it felt like ages ago was frequent and annoying. And her writing, which I loved in Cadence, felt incredibly forced at times.