content warnings: child abuse, violence, death, gore, abduction, drugging, animal cruelty, parental loss, slavery, torture
representation: bi protagonists, poc side characters, mlm side characters

The best way I can describe my feelings on this book is that this is what Throne of Glass should have been. It definitely had its faults, but this is easily one of the best fantasy books I've read in a while, and safe to say I'm really excited for where the series is going to go.

The plot takes a while to get going but when it does it's thrilling and emotional. I was worried going into the book at whether or not the two storylines would be able to flow well, and I'm happy to say that they did. They're both so different, and yet they seem to fit together perfectly. I think if I had to choose a favourite storyline I would have to pick Rielle's, but I genuinely fell in love with both of them.

I have one big positive and one big negative with Claire Legrand's writing. Positive: she's fantastic at writing fight scenes, something which a lot of writers (myself included) struggle with. Negative: her writing of sex scenes is a bit awkward and makes them uncomfortable to read.

I, in some way, loved each character. Rielle and Eliana were both such different protagonists and it was a lot of fun to read from both of their perspectives. The side characters are all incredibly fleshed out and it feels as if you know all of them. Though, one downfall of this book for me was the romantic relationships, which is strange because I loved all the characters individually but when it came to romance (in particular Rielle's romance) I found myself not really caring about the relationship.

Overall, a really great high fantasy novel that makes me feel excited to read more of Claire Legrand's work and find out where the rest of the series is going to go.