Review originally posted at between-the-shelves.com!

Thanks to Henry Holt & Co for the advanced copy of this book to review! I’m today’s stop on the promotional blog tour for the book’s release this week. I read The Merciful Crow last summer thanks to an ARC that I got at BookCon. So, I was so happy to get a copy of this one! I am also happy to say that it definitely didn’t disappoint.

However, I will say that I wish I had re-read The Merciful Crow before jumping into this one. It picks up right where the last book left off and I had to shake the cobwebs out to figure out what was going on. This meant that the beginning was a bit slow going for me, re-orienting myself to this world and these characters.

After that, though, it was not! Probably about a third of the way into the book, I couldn’t put it down. Owen expands on the magic system she’d created in the first book, and in a good way. Fie learns more about her magic, and we learn more about magic in the history of Sabor. Plus, the stakes are risen and there are a lot of mentions of cats. Jasimir is a cat-master at one point and it is fantastic. I loved it.

Unfortunately, I felt the plot twist included was slightly predictable. Maybe it’s just because I read a lot of fantasy, but I could kind of tell what was coming. This didn’t make the book less enjoyable, though. I didn’t predict exactly how it would unfold, meaning I was still engaged in the story. I love Fie and her band of friends and I would definitely read more about them!
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While it took me a minute to remember how the first book ended, I really enjoyed this! Stay tuned for a full review later this week!