(reread) This is supposed to be a book about an assassin competition, but boy is it so much more. Knowing what I know, everything pissed me off (a good thing) the friendships, the love triangle, the secrets... There are glimpses of what's going on behind the scenes but there is still so much to be answered in the next books. The love triangle did not do it for me this time. One of the mmc’s give's me the ickiest icks and this reread only strengthened those feelings. The other mmc can eat my heart for breakfast. The friendship in this... my feelings are more conflicted and probably always will be. It’s obvious how naive the cheracters are at this point which mokes me more excited to witness the growth again. The naivety, weird romance situation, and withholding knowledge aspect is why I can’t give it a 5, but this is still so sooo epic and makes me so excited to continue the series.

Quotes:
i didn’t get a lot of swoon worthy quotes in this one. most of my highlights were plot / world-building / theories / reactions but i did love this gem:
He was done with politics and intrigue. He loved her, and no empire, no king, and no earthly fear would keep him from her. No, if they tried to take her from him, he’d rip the world apart with his bare hands. And for some reason, that didn’t terrify him.

ratings:
plot: 4
characters: 3
spice: 0
romance: 3
pace: 4
writing: 4
world: 4
recommend: yes
overall: 4