This book was unfortunately the weakest of the High Republic books that I've read so far, mostly for reasons that have already been shared. The primary problem with this book is the writing. The constant use of exclamation points and drawn out words (wizaaaaard!) were just way too much, completely uncharacteristic, and hopelessly tone deaf. Which is even more unfortunate given what this book could have been. Reath is one of my favorite characters from the YA books, but he was given a massive disservice in this book. So much so that I actually don't buy that it was Reath at all, because it certainly didn't sound like him. His actions and dialogue seemed like they belonged to another character altogether. And that goes for the rest of the cast, too. They all were represented as flat, one-dimensional cardboard cutouts that were copied and pasted into the story for the means of... I don't know. Maybe I just didn't care to think too much about the book because the writing put such a sour taste in my mouth, but I'm not sure what the plot of this was actually meant to be. Every scene was just all over the place, and I wasn't really sure what we were really supposed to be focusing on. And I am all for a plotless book , because those can be fun in and of themselves, but this felt like every scene was shoehorned in and didn't feel natural. I'm not sure how it's possible to do both, but this book did it. 

I don't think that Older is necessarily a bad author — I'm sure that if this were a middle-grade book, I would have appreciated it much more. However, this book is meant to cap off a massive storyline with deep and emotional moments throughout, with characters who were treated with care and passion before. And the juvenile writing style absolutely did not give this story the ending that it deserved.