3/20/23 - I just finished my second read of this book and upon reflection I’m changing my rating from 5 stars to 4. I still consider this series to be a favorite of mine and I think this book was entertaining, but after finishing I was left with the feeling that not much had happened in 500 pages. It definitely felt like a filler book that’s main goal was to develop characters further and set up the events of the final book. The Elemental Games were fun to read about but even they didn’t have any real effect on the main plot of the series. My favorite parts were definitely the ones following Lila on The Night Spire and I honestly would’ve loved a whole book about her pirate adventures. I loved the atmosphere of being out at sea and visiting Sasenroche. Other than that though, nothing really significant or high stakes happened until the very end. 

Even though that all sounded quite negative I still loved being back with some of my favorite characters and I had a good time! I’m definitely excited to finally finish the series and find out how everything ends!