This was a really good read. I think the book would have benefited with a bit more relationship building at the beginning, though I had no issue jumping into their friendship from where it did. That might be because their playfulness is pretty similar to my own, so it made sense to me.

It was a bit predictable in a few ways - though I didn't mind it all that much. I'd say what I did mind was that Ettian was just a LITTLE too enamored with Gal to the point that it was slightly nauseating and a little unbelievable. The war had not been that long ago, Ettian lived through it, and I can't quite believe that his thoughts go so quickly back to Gal and Umber before his own homeland.

And while Gal is a nice guy, he prioritizes his needs above Ettian's, so it's hard to really understand why Ettian is so 'blinded by love'. We see a little bit more strength of character toward the end, but that obsession is still clouding it.

I'm excited to see where it goes from here and hope that the characters grow. No problems with the writing style nor the secondary characters here. It was a breath of fresh air after being utterly disappointed by the writing and plot of the The Fever King.