“We are but fevered stars… here a little while, bright, bright with promise, before we burn away.”

The sequel picks up right where Black Sun left off, and the city of Tova, even the world at large, has descended into chaos and extreme political maneuvering due to the sun's loss. As an overview, there’s definitely less action, in my opinion, in the sequel than book one, so be aware of that going into it. Fevered Star suffers a bit from second book syndrome, which was disappointing to realize while I read it. I was imagining a full five star review like Black Sun, but this sequel is building in intensity. I loved the characters and politics enough to enjoy the setup, but setup is still setup within a novel. I’m nearly positive the third book is going to be incredible in a terrifyingly good but horrific way. Do I wish we could just skip to book three now? Of course but the wait'll be worth it— hopefully.

Roanhorse’s writing is still eloquent and captivating. I love how witty she is with banter— even amidst the apparent apocalypse of this fantasy world. It’s a wonderful contrast to the brutality taking place in most of the scenes. I'm curious to see people's opinions on Serapio, and if they've changed. I love that Rebecca went in the direction to have him question everything's he's ever known. It suits him perfectly because he's fulfilled his duty. He wasn't supposed to survive the end of Black Sun, so to see him coming to terms with this new reality, is extremely interesting. Is he slowly turning into more of a villainous lead? Yes. Do I dig it 110%? OBVIOUSLY. I wish we could've seen it sooner because a part of my will always be on Serapio's side screaming at him to burn everything but Xiala.

Also to answer more character questions— Xiala is still my favorite character by far. She’s the funny, empathetic, and dynamic lead that I remember from book one. One of my selfish critiques is that I wish we had more time with her because more Xiala means at least so witty sass to break up the weight of this dark fantasy. Her plot did seem to be more chaotic, ironic enough, in Fevered Star, but I think that partly had to do with her constant traveling and new companions. She seemed to be the biggest setup of the characters— disappointingly— but at least now we're getting to see her journey back to her homeland (AKA one of the most interesting plots to me).

We actually got more time with Okoa in this installment, which was great since I love his portion of the plot. He really steps up his game in this installment, and I loved seeing him play this chess game for power alongside the other characters, especially his sister because he's torn in the beginning to follow his clan/ family or choose Serpaio like they're supposed to.

Naranpa... well Nara is a giant spoiler, so I'll be leaving her as a big question mark in this review. I think her journey surprised me the most of the five. She's always been this quiet but strong lead, and I love her slow build into the figure she becomes by the end. The ending is truly where this book shines, and as a lil' nudge, it does have to do with Nara. All of the conversations and whispers hit an end point with this culminating moment that just was everything. The slowness in the beginning and middle is worth it just for this point in the plot and that’s all I can say about that.. *wink wink*