Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. While I try to post no spoilers, if ye haven’t read the first book then ye might want to skip this post. If ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .

I really enjoyed book one of this series.  It had wonderful world building, excellent characters, a fantastic magic system, and a heist gone wrong.  So I was super excited to get a chance to read book two.  Sadly this was just okay.

The main issue for me is that the scope of the novel was too big in terms of ideas.  The first novel was a character driven story that felt intimate and fun.  I loved watching the characters grow and influence the world around them.  And of course so much of that fun involved the key.  Now I didn't read the blurb and went into this blind.  Mehaps that was the problem.

Now don't get me wrong, I still love the characters and the world in general.  I loved the set-up for this book and was looking forward to the scrapes that Sancia was going to get herself both into and out of.  Well sadly, both her and the other characters get lost in the minutiae of the set-up for the big showdown in book three.  Also suddenly all of the characters seem to have acquired the ability to be super-humans and conveniently get themselves out of everything with rather little effort.  Sancia in particular just seemed to ease her way through every magic situation with her talent.  I wanted more struggle and character connections.

Really I wanted the character-driven story back.  The plot also became a bit too meta for me.  I can't get into it because of spoilers but it was both convenient and lackluster.  Perhaps this was because I have read other books where the same type of magic happens.  There wasn't enough difficulty in execution and adjustment.  The two main characters in this situation just seem to take it in stride and it became a little too woo woo in terms of making human relationships better.  Argh!  I wish I could explain this better but I don't want to ruin it for those who may find these circumstances mind-blowing.

The crew has overwhelmingly given this one five stars.  Wish I could say the same.  I am likely to read the last book because of how the battle has begun.  I actually did think the ending was the best part.  I am interested in seeing how the mess gets resolved.  I just be sad that book two didn't make me fall in love the way book one did.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Random House!