3.25 stars.

This is a slow-burn queer fantasy romance with a lot to love and a little that left me wanting. The political dilemmas are intriguing, the characters delightful, the tension delicious, the anxiety rep well-done and genuine, as was the queer rep. That being said, the pacing was a little too slow and certain aspects went relatively unexplored or conveniently resolved in a way that felt incongruous to the central plot of the story.

As much as I respect and appreciate a standalone fantasy, I really do think that most of my problems with this could have been fixed had the story been broken up into a duology.

This is, all things considered, a good problem for a book to have. I wouldn’t have sacrificed any of the character dynamics and relationships developed for the sake of the plot being more thoroughly investigated, I just think it would’ve been more satisfying to have separated this into two distinct stories with their own central focuses.

The first book could been dedicated more to exploration of the magic system and political machinations, settling some of the conflict, sexual tension, and the external forces vexing the Mahistis.

The full conclusion could then take its time in second story, following how Kadou and Evemer deal with their personal dilemma as well as how Zahiya handles not only their situation but that of Siranos and Silvia. We could see Tadek and Eozena heal and process the events of the first novel.

In that way, readers would also have more time with the characters and world that I found genuinely wonderful, and maybe had a bit more spicy scenes too.