I was a big fan of Swan's first book, The Justice of Kings. In this book, we start just where we left off. The gang is traveling to the city of Sova. When they get there things quickly get out of hand and instead of just a drop in and out, they become stuck in the middle of a political war. 

I want to get the main negative I had about this book. I say that like it's a big deal but it's really a small thing. I struggled to get into this book for about 35% of it. The pacing was really slow and some of the main things happening did not feel all that relevant. For example, the mission to find the Prince. It just felt like added pages and we don't see any results until almost the end. It was also the weakest plot point that I figured out rather quickly. 

One of the best things about this series is the characters. While. Vonvalt is technically the main character, it's narrated by Helena. She's working with him to maybe become a Justine, she's still on the fence about that. Helena made insane character growth in this book. She's struggling with right and wrong, what she's learned from Vonvalt about Justice and the law. Meanwhile, she's starting to see sides of Vonvalt that contradict some of his past actions and behaviors. Especially, when she learns about some of Vonvalt's history. She goes through a lot in this book and it was something that I loved about this sequel. The relationships between Helena, Vonvalt, Dubine, and Radomir are hard not to love. They are all so independent and a rag-tag group but they care deeply for each other. They all add something refreshing to the story. 

Keep in mind that there are a lot of brutal and terrifying scenes in this book. I was not prepared for some of the demons/magical beings' descriptions. In fact I had a nightmare about the main one in this book! I blame the pregnancy for that one. haha Swan has done an impeccable job creating a truly terrifying and almost impossible-to-defeat, villain. 

Overall, I thought this was a great sequel. There is a slight pacing issue but the last half is amazing and full of so much action. There are so many things going on and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book. I did not make it out of this book unscathed and that's all I will say about that. The character development for all of them was impressive too. It will be a long wait for book three!!