I think this book was probably better and more enjoyable for me to read than the last one. We got a lot more character development for Helene and it was nice to see the reasoning was behind her decisions. It made me be a lot more empathetic towards her. She still cares a lot about Elias and is someone who loves her family fiercely. It’s disgusting how Marcus used that against her. The good thing is that she has almost nothing to lose at this point if she finally decides to turn on him at some point in the series. Currently, I don’t think she will because she is still very much stuck with dealing with Marcus. He has a lot more space to abuse his power as emperor now. 

The character that really gave me a run for my money is Keanan, though. I would not have guessed that he was a djinn. However, I’m glad that this love polygon has subsided at least. I can’t blame Laia for trusting him and sleeping with him. The girl has been through a lot and when she finally gets some peace and quiet and a good time, turns out her dear friend was an enemy the whole time. He gave all of the signs of a friend that was trustworthy, unfortunately, her perception was wrong. A lot was going on in this book in terms of the line between life and death as well as magic. It was interesting to get a bit more of a glimpse into the magic, but it was a pretty vague glimpse if I’m being honest. I don’t really need the magic in a fantasy world to be meticulously explained for me to enjoy the story and world, so I’m cool with it. I’m looking forward to seeing the consequences of Elias dying and taking on this new role in the spirit world. This series is still a solid 3 stars, nothing groundbreaking, but an interesting world that still merits exploration.