Most of my annotations for this book are "no no no no no no go away"...

Relics of Ruin was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and I am so glad that I got to read it early. I loved the first book and I was super excited to return to the archives and mysteries. While I still enjoyed this one, I will admit that I think I liked the first one better.
While the first book focused on a murder mystery, this one is about theft (which isn't as fun of a crime, in my opinion). The mystery was good and I really liked the additional POVs that we got this time. I also think it will make more sense when I inevitably reread it because some of the dots didn't connect right away. I didn't call the main "plot twist," but I did enjoy just riding along with the flow of the books. I think my favorite parts were probably the scenes with Richa, Amadea, and Ibramo at about the 85% mark, just because they were the closest to the danger from the end of the previous book.
This series excels at making me care more about characters than I should. I'm still not sold on Ibramo, but I think he was the only main character I didn't like. I had issues with Tunuk at first but he grew on me. Quill is still my favorite, and I was kind of sad we didn't get as much of him as in the first book, but it looks like that might change in book three? Yinii and the other archivists are still very interesting to be and I love their dynamic. But Richa and Amadea? I love them so much, mostly Richa. We got more of his backstory and let me just say that if Stellano Zezurin shows his nasty little face again, I will personally find a way to enter the book and punch him so hard. I hate him.
Even though I found it to be a little less fast-paced than Empire of Exiles, Relics of Ruin still packs a great mystery with lots of twists and some really great found family dynamics. I don't want to wait for book three.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
4/5