This book is really something. Best to go in knowing nothing because it really is a ride.

Also, this book is heavy on the pandemic and I was :openeyecrylaugh:ing the entire time because major mood.

Nothing else to say except I love Emily St. John Mandel's writing style, and the way she tells stories is so unique from anything else I've read. It really grips you immediately, even if it is confusing at times, everything ends up clicking at the end and you're left with your mouth hanging open. 

Highly recommend. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for giving me an arc to review! Also big thanks to @kahaneewitches for posting about this book on their Instagram stories. I was immediately hooked when I saw the main character is a Muslim detective and just knew I needed to read it!

I don’t read adult mystery/thriller all that much. A lot of the mystery books I’ve read are historical fiction/mystery or more ya contemporary mystery/thriller, so I was excited to see what I would think.

To start off with, the plot of this book and the actual mystery was very complex with lots of twists and turns I was not expecting. And I loved every second of it! It kept me on the edge of my seat and I loved getting to know the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of Blackwater Falls. In a way, you kind of get to be Inaya as the reader. Inaya is pretty new to Blackwater Falls, so as the reader, you both go on this journey of learning the secrets the town and its people are hiding. The book was fast-paced and I couldn’t put it down. And instead of focusing on just one mystery—of Razan’s murder—we also get swept up in the disappearance of two Black Muslim girls, plus the ongoing investigation happening with Sheriff Grant. It’s all interconnected but also a confusing mess, but in a good way! I miss that when it comes to books. The delicious complexity of a plot really made me realize I need to read more adult fiction.

Inaya is part Pakistani and part Afghani. Her relationship with her family was so relatable it kind of hurt lol. Her younger sisters are “fashionable” and into boys, whereas Inaya is focused on her work and the murder of Razan. We have a whole scene in chapter ten of the book where Inaya’s mom tries to convince her to see this rishta and goes on a whole spiel about how important it is to get married, and how Inaya’s younger sisters can’t get married until she does, and she’s getting older now, etc etc. Like I said, painfully relatable. I do wish we got to see more moments of Inaya with her family. Her baba is honestly the best, sweetest, kindest man alive. To see someone in her family be so supportive of her dreams and her career made me emotional. And it was a nice balance when it came to her mom’s persistence.

One thing I think this book does well is address the complexities when it comes to being a visible minority while working in a system that is known for its systemic racism and violence. I hate the police. With a passion. And this book will make you hate them even more. But what’s difficult is seeing how Inaya is hated by members of her community for being on the “wrong side” and working within this system to try and bring people justice. It’s complicated and honestly I don’t know how I feel about it either. In one way, it makes sense that since we can’t immediately defund the police, having people who represent the community working within the system could be a way to make change. But at the same time, we’ve seen visible minorities working among the police and seen how they suppress their background and differences to fit in and be like everyone else. Seif, Inaya’s boss, is one such example since he’s white passing and also has twisted his name and past to suit his purposes. So all in all, it’s hard to say who’s right and who’s wrong and if the Community Response Unit is the way to go with dealing with police brutality and misconduct. I don’t think I’m educated enough on this topic to have a proper opinion, but I appreciate that this was addressed rather than ignoring it entirely.

Another interesting aspect of this book is the difference in how the disappearance of two Black Muslim girls is treated vs. Razan’s more public murder (as a white-skinned Syrian). Another thing I was glad was addressed and Areesha is definitely going to be a character many people will fall in love with. (I’m also obsessed with her fashion sense).

I do want to address a couple things though. I think this book needs trigger warnings, and I really hope the publisher sees this and can add this before the book is published. This book is disturbing and hard to read at times. We get Razan’s refugee backstory, the systemic racism and discrimination Muslim and refugee members of the Blackwater community are going through, plus there are two scenes where characters get their hijabs ripped off while being filmed and terrorized by white men. 

The chapters in particular are: 18 and 53

While I’ve never personally experienced the horror that these two scenes describe, I think it’s a common fear for a lot of hijab-wearing Muslims. That and it being Muharram and my mind being back in Karbala when the women in the Prophet’s family were stripped of their hijabs, physically abused, and marched through the streets of Damascus…I was not mentally ready to be reading something like this. It was really difficult and triggering and I had to take a break from reading before continuing on. The only other scene that triggered me was something that was more personal and specific to my experiences, so I won’t mention anything except if you’ve had bad experiences when it comes to rishtas and matchmaking, that’s something you should have a heads up on.

While I loved so much of this book, the one thing that just didn’t work for me was the romance. I was not a big fan. Inaya is religious. She doesn’t hide her faith, even though she doesn’t wear hijab anymore. And Seif…well he’s the complete opposite. I think the first proper pov we get for him he’s completely smitten and it feels out of nowhere, especially considering he knows Inaya is Muslim and practicing, whereas he’s not just the complete opposite, but he’s also pretending to be white in front of everyone else. It just didn’t work for me and felt awkward and almost one-sided. While Inaya is interested in Seif and her sisters keep hinting at the possible romance there, Inaya didn’t seem to feel the same way. And Seif’s commentary about Inaya and her beautiful hair and dark eyes…and we even get a moment when he’s “filled with lust” just made me uncomfortable. One thing I did like was how Inaya stays firm in her beliefs, and while it seems like Seif could be on the bridge of change for future books, I don’t know if how I feel about the two of them together changes much. It might be more me than anything. But I would have loved this book more without the romance since there’s already so much going on plot wise. 

The end of this book did surprise me a little. I can never really guess mysteries lol so I’m always surprised. I’m not sure how I feel about all of it though, but it did tie things up well. The very last chapter was absolutely heartbreaking though and I almost cried.

Another difficult book to rate, but I think I’m going to give it 3.75/5 stars. I am interested to see what happens next since there are still some loose ends, and I did love Cat and Areesha and Inaya’s family a lot. Though I’m not sure if I’ll be rushing to pick up the next book. 

Hello people. I finished reading this book right before midnight on the 14th of September, and I'm sitting here with my cardamom chai latte (which is really good btw) to try and write a review that encompasses all my thoughts and feelings.

(BEWARE SPOILERS)

I did take a quick look at other reviews and saw that some people were concerned about the title and the idea of a contemporary romance taking place in such a Holy City. I'll admit, I went into this book expecting more "romance" than we got. I thought it would be full of cute little scenes of Zayneb and Adam performing Umrah together, with maybe Adam's MS being the main conflict/issue. Instead, the one word I would use to describe this book is STRESSFUL.

We start off with POVs from Adam and Zayneb and realize that they're both hiding a lot from each other. There's a lot of miscommunication and later on, jealousy, thrown in, both of which I'm not a huge fan of when it comes to contemporary romance. That being said, I really wanted to give this book the benefit of the doubt because the characters and author aren't white and I thought it would bring something different to the story. Unfortunately, it made for a rather frustrating read. While I didn't want this book to be "in-your-face-romance" in Mecca and Medina, it made for a rather stressful trip (for Adam and Zayneb) but also the reader. Watching both characters so close, yet so distant from each other, Zayneb ignoring Adam, Adam being clueless...It was just hard to watch, and you kind of want to shake all the characters and tell them to just stop and communicate for one second. 

One thing that did stand out to me in this book was the writing style. I know other people who aren't a huge fan of SK Ali's writing, but this book was the first time that I started to notice a little of what they meant. The writing is beautiful and poetic at times, but sometimes it's a little confusing trying to understand what the character is thinking about, and other times it felt a little juvenile and millennial. I was not expecting the words "hanky-panky" to be used so many times. And was even shocked at one point when Adam uses the word "sexting". Some of the romance (mainly words of expression and love) was also a little cringey, especially considering that Adam and Zayneb aren't 17/18 anymore. I'm not sure if Adam's nickname being Squish and Zayneb's being Zayby were really my thing either. And another thing...the TikTok kid that went to Umrah with them...If anything, the small amount of romance we do get in Mecca/Medina was nothing compared to this guy filming tiktoks during Umrah. I mean, it's not like he's filming dance videos, but it did feel slightly off to be creating entertainment content while on a religious pilgrimage, even if it was to educate people on how Muslims perform Umrah and the hijrah from Mecca to Medina. 

I don't want people to go into this expecting the worst, because there were A LOT of good things too.

To start off with...UMRAH. I never ever expected to read about Muslim characters going to Umrah in a book during my lifetime. So I actually cried a lot. I cried when they were on the plane headed to Jeddah, when they landed, when they first saw Mecca from the bus window, when they first saw the Kabbah. The Talbiyah that's recited multiple times. When they arrived in Medina and saw the Prophet's Masjid. Just everything made me want to cry and wish I could be in Mecca and Medina right now. It was beautiful to see this captured in a book. The stories that are recounted about the early days of Islam too were just so nice to see.

Another thing I loved was the chronic illness rep. I 100% understood Adam's change of plans for his vacation with Zayneb, though I wish things had been better handled between the two of them so both could be happy and Zayneb didn't feel obligated to do Umrah for Adam instead of herself. Having a chronic illness is hard because it's so unpredictable. Adam was feeling good, his meds were working, and he had the energy to consider going for Umrah. And like his father said, there was no way to predict if this time next year Adam would be in the same position. So it made sense for Adam to want to go, especially considering the project he was also working on and how stuck he felt. Wanting to go to a religious site to make dua and ask for help and guidance is a thing so many Muslims can probably relate to. And I understand the pressure Adam felt to try and do what he can while he is able to. And I know Zayneb understood this too, but I wish there could have been better accommodations for them to actually be able to spend time together outside of Umrah.

I'm going to break off and talk about Sarina for a second. She really made me angry. At first, I thought she was just trying to be nice and helpful, but she purposely kept pushing Zayneb aside in order to try and "care" for Adam. The scene where she tries to force him to get a wheelchair to do tawaf even though Adam said he felt good and had his cane, but she kept refusing to listen to him. She wouldn't even let Zayneb be included in the conversation despite knowing that they're married and Zayneb could walk beside him while doing tawaf. She was obsessed, and I think Zayneb was right to feel hurt and upset at Adam for not noticing. Adam is a very clueless cinnamon-roll type character, and I honestly think he didn't notice these things and then once Sarina offered him a job opportunity, let a lot of this slide as a result. The pictures Sarina took and posted of them together during Umrah really did it for me. And I hate how none of this is challenged by anyone else. All we get is Zayneb apologizing to Sarina for being rude. I wish Sheikh Murtaza had said something to Sarina, especially considering that she plans and goes on these Umrah trips with lots of people, yet she's trying to break up a couple because she has feelings for the guy.

I did think we were going to see more of Adam and his MS. And while he does use an electronic wheelchair for Sa'i, I was hoping to see more. Though at the same time, I'm really glad the whole Umrah group was so nice and welcoming to Adam. I think it helped that most of the group were younger individuals too, but no one was annoyed that Adam was "slowing them down" or needed accommodations etc. Besides for Sarina making assumptions on what Adam needed, the rest of really great. 

Going back to the miscommunication...I feel like the end was tied up too easily in a way that didn't make sense. Adam and Zayneb seem to introspect independently before eventually realizing the mistakes they've made. And while we do get a phone call with apologies, I think it would have been nice to see them actually sit down and talk about everything openly. Adam sort of realizes what Sarina was up to and how that made Zayneb feel and Zayneb realizes that her stress from everything going on at school had travelled with her to Umrah and made her hypersensitive to everything around her, leading her to lash out. Though I do think she was justified, and her emotional and physical exhaustion as a result made sense. I just wish when they do meet up in Medina, instead of them going off to hang out with everyone else, they could have just sat that the Prophet's Masjid and talked it all out right there. As the reader, we see that they both get where they went wrong, but after so much miscommunication and the fact that this whole book they were together, but not really speaking to each other, I just wanted more Adam and Zayneb moments. 

One last thing I wanted to highlight was Adam's fear of not being able to work because of his MS. This is such a real fear for those of us who have chronic illnesses and disabilities. And I did like how we got to see a flashback to a scene with Zayneb and her brother and how Adam feels like he needs to be able to provide for Zayneb in order to be a good husband who her parents will accept into the family. I also really felt for Adam during his flashbacks to when his mom died and how angry he felt at not being able to see her and having to squash his anger and hold himself together because of his dad and sister. The one line where he says he was "the easy child" really got to me because I feel that so much. How hard it was for him to ask for help from his dad because he didn't want to be seen as incapable. I love Adam's dad though, and I also loved the character growth we see with Adam when he realizes that he can ask for help and that doesn't mean he isn't capable enough to take care of himself or Zayneb. There's nothing wrong with asking for help, especially in Adam's case when it's given willingly and with so much love in return.

Zayneb also goes through some character growth by the end, and I'm glad things seemed to work out eventually. We also get a glimpse into Janna and Layth's life which was a nice touch, though I don't know if things felt too perfect with everyone happy and ending up together. 

OH and before I end things off. I love love love the commentary we get on how much Saudi Arabia sucks. Adam noticing how Medina feels more like the way it should, with the Masjid the centre and not surrounded by tall buildings and hotels was such a mood. And Zayneb and Mila talking about how migrants are treated was good to see because Saudi Arabia is pretty problematic and I honestly don't like the country as a whole, especially considering how they treat Shias. One thing I did find weird was that Sausun's family's house had servers (who I'm assuming are migrant workers) and it felt wrong in many ways. 

Overall, this book left me with a lot of mixed feelings. While aspects of this book (ie. the Umrah itself and the chronic illness rep) were great, other things I did find annoying, and the writing style just didn't work as well for me this time around. Love from A to Z is still one of my all-time favourite books, but I think this sequel just didn't live up to my expectations. 

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

OKAY THIS IS ONE OF MY TOP FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2022!!

Like I've repeatedly said, please please please drop everything, call in sick from work, forget the dishes in your sink, and read this book. I'm begging you.

I've never read anything by this author, but the first sentence had me hooked. Her writing style can only be described as deliciously whimsical. Every word drew me into the story further. The descriptions of Nowhere House especially made me feel like I was actually there. I loved all the POVs we got. They were unique and fit each character so perfectly. Her way with words and explaining emotions and trauma was perfect. 

But I think my favourite part of this book was the discussion on the difference between being nice and being kind. It just makes SO MUCH SENSE. I don't always read a book and leave with a lesson that I can apply to my daily life, but this is one of those moments. I'm going to quote this because it's necessary and I need everyone to see how life changing this specific part of the book is:

<blockquote>Niceness is good manners, and stopping to give someone directions, and smiling at the overworked cashier at the supermarket. These are all good things, but they have nothing to do with what's underneath. Niceness is all about what we do when other people are looking. Kindness, on the other hand, runs deep. Kindness is what happens when no one's looking.</blockquote>

AND

<blockquote>A lot of nice people stop being nice when they don't get exactly what they want.</blockquote>

This book focuses a lot on childhood trauma, on what it is like growing up knowing you have to change and adapt yourself to fit those around you. It touches on feeling unlovable, like everyone around you will eventually leave you behind and move on. The guarding and suspicion and second-guessing when someone shows they care about you, no strings attached. It mentions the hurt and betrayal, and feeling like you'll never leave a mark on the world. 

This book made me so emotional because of how much I relate to all of this. At one point, Jamie realizes that even though Mika has magic–the one thing she loves and is such an important part of her–all she craves for is people who will understand and accept her and love her for being <i>herself</i>.

This book is about found family. It's about how trauma can manifest in different ways as you grow older. How trauma can prevent you from creating the kind of life you crave because you've been hurt so many times you're afraid to trust again. It's about creating families that are there for each other, even though they're not related. It's about being accepting and present and having an open ear and heart. It's about love of all kinds, not just romantic. This book is beautiful and wholesome and perfect in everyway, and I wanted to cry so many times while reading this because it felt like a stab to the heart (but in a good way). I still feel like I'm learning about how my trauma manifests in my day to day life and relationships, and sometimes a book like this one is a good reminder to sit back and think about these things instead of letting them gather cobwebs in the back of your mind.

The whole cast of characters are truly loveable. The children are adorable. Terracotta being my favourite because she's super protective of her family and also loves murder. A great combination in my opinion. But Jamie. Oh Jamie.

I have a soft spot for the grumpy/sunshine trope when it comes to romance. And boy does this book deliver. Y'all will fall in love with Jamie and want to hug him a thousand times (which he would hate). 
He's the perfect grump, and as Mika calls him, "a cantankerous old man" at heart. I love how much he loves the children and how protective he is of them. But he's also so kind underneath the mask he wears. The romance between him and Mika had the perfect build-up. There were so many good squeal-worthy, and oh-my-gosh moments. The one in the Broomstick when he gives her his coat was an especially good one. Also the scene before that with Primrose and Mika having tea. Just sjfskdjfsklfjdsklfjdsklfjdskjskdfjlksjf

This book will make you laugh-out-loud so many times. It's heartwarming and funny, and very soft and cute, and surprising too. 

Also Mika. Can I just say I love her so much I would die for her?!! Her love of potions and tea and her dream of opening a tea and potion shop like fshkfjdskjfs. I geeked out a lot whenever we got a glimpse of her brewing potions and gathering plants and herbs. She's such a good and kind person. Her interactions with Jamie were gold and I love them together so much sdfsdkjf.

Anyway, I will stop gushing and let everyone read this book and thoroughly enjoy it. I'm honestly planning to buy a copy soon because there is no way I can't have the physical book in my hands. There are too many good and relatable quotes, that are also painful, but it's fine because this book is too good and I'm so glad I picked it up!!

(Also, for those of you who've read The House in the Cerulean Sea, but want to support an author and book that doesn't build a story off of Indigenous intergenerational trauma, plus has a diverse cast of characters, then this book is for you. So please pick it up and yell about it because Sangu deserves the world.)

Okay this book was great and is a must read! I went into this barely knowing anything which I think was perfect. It was gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat and I could barely put it down.

You go into the book aware of the Springfield Prom Massacre, so in a way you kind of know how things end, but you don’t know the exact details. The book follows a podcast host and his co-host as they go through the evidence behind this case—pretty much a true crime podcast. But we also get POVs from the main characters leading up to and including the actual incident. It was really nice going back and forth between the different POVs and the podcast interviews and news articles.

The author opens the book with how this story focuses more on racism than her other books have. I had no idea segregated proms were a thing that still happen to this day. This book focuses on Maddy who is white passing and has lied to everyone that she’s actually white (at her father’s behest) until her secret is exposed. She’s already treated terribly by the other students for how she dresses and barely talks, but things take a turn for the worse as her fellow classmates show how racist they truly are, even if they try to deny their actions or take responsibility.

This book will make you angry, but in some ways it’s also relatable. Seeing Kendrick’s side of the story was really interesting as a Black kid who’s sort of left behind his identity in order to fit in. I grew up hearing and seeing other Muslim students trying to act more white in order to fit in, and even I have said and done things to make myself belong in a situation. Kendrick’s character growth was really well done throughout this book.

Wendy annoyed me so much oh my gosh. She’s very self obsessed and wants to be the martyr and have everyone think she’s selfless and good, when in reality she only does things to benefit herself first. While she does go through some character growth, I was meh about her character as a whole and honestly most of the other white characters. It was hard to look past their racist ideals even if they had one or two decent moments.

Jules can die, I hate her with a passion. But this story goes to show how white people love twisting the story to make themselves the victims at the end.

I did love how the co-host for the podcast highlights that the title of the podcast “Maddy Did It” points the blame on Maddy entirely instead of considering everything she experienced at school and by her racist white town. I’m not a fan of true crime myself and I think this book highlighted some of the ways people like to take a story and strip it down for the thrill and ignore the actual implications and lessons learned.

This book should have major trigger warnings for parental abuse, racism, and gore. It wasn’t scary or too disturbing for me personally, but the details of the actual massacre are quite vivid.

Overall, the ending was pretty well tied up and went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. 4/5 stars, highly recommend and can’t wait for the HCCFRENZY event.

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book in return for an honest review

When I first saw this book on my Instagram stories I immediately freaked out. While I don’t have an official diagnosis for endometriosis, my chronic pelvic pain and symptoms sort of line up, and being able to read about a character who is going through something similar made me so excited.

Unfortunately the romance did not work for me at all. I know a lot of people enjoyed this book, but I’m really picky when it comes to romance, and I was a bit worried that I wasn’t going to be a fan. Despite that, I wanted to give it a shot because I had heard that the author was keeping the sex scenes realistic to the diagnosis and that was something I really wanted to see. 

The first thing that was a major turn off was the Cheez Whiz in the spray can. I’m sorry, I just find Cheez Whiz to be kind of disgusting? And the fact that Evie lives in Paris and this is what she craves all the time…

I understood that the author was going for an enemies to lovers/fake dating thing, and while I understood the enemies part, the fake dating just didn’t make sense to me because it was so so so obvious they both had feelings for each other.

This whole book is just two people being really horny for each other and constantly wanting to make out (probably the point of this book considering it’s a contemporary romance, but it got old fast). There were some super awkward scenes when either Evie or Liam are standing super close to each other and whispering in each other’s ears while someone stands there watching…it just made me uncomfortable.

I did appreciate what we got to see of Evie and Caroline’s relationship. Evie’s mom is pretty awful and while the ending sort of makes up for things I don’t think it’s enough to make up for all the horrible comments she’s said to Evie and how that’s affected her self confidence and ability to love and accept love.

Now for the endo rep. I really really liked what we got (minus for the flaring and feeling horny and deciding to have a make out session in the kitchen, maybe a thing some people with endo do, but when I’m flaring I don’t want to talk to anyone let alone move). I loved the little lines we get of sudden sharp stabbing pains or cramping or leg/hip pain in the middle of a completely normal scene. It was especially nice to read since I was flaring while reading this and sometimes I’d get a sharp stabbing pain and go “wow, so this does happen to other people”. One thing I also related to a lot was acknowledging the pain and then moving on because you have things to do and can’t rest every time you’re in pain. It was such a mood and super validating to see. Also Evie uses a cane! I really loved seeing that.

As for the sex scenes, I’m really glad the author kept this realistic because I think it’s important to show in a book like this. Also I really love how Evie’s therapist emphasizes that sex isn’t the only important thing in a relationship because that’s so true. Another thing I appreciate was that we don’t end off on a sex scene where everything is perfect and wonderful and pain free. Because it’s really not realistic and things like that take work and time. 

I don’t have much to say about Liam. Like I said, the romance was not my favourite. Also the puns were a bit too repetitive. And some of his lines were kind of cringe too

Anyway, 2/5 stars mostly because the endo rep was pretty good. 

Okay this was just as great as I was expecting and I think it might be my favourite June Hur book??! I think what I loved about this story in particular was that it's loosely based on some events surrounding the life and death of Prince Jangheon. And while this is historical fiction, I think it was the perfect background and setting for this story: we get a little bit of Joseon Dynasty history, with a splash of murder and romance. 

I love June's writing style a lot. It flows so well and is very quick and easy to read. The story kept me on the edge of my seat. I suck at actually figuring out murder mysteries, so I wasn't expecting the ending, but it made sense and fit together perfectly.

I loved our main character Hyeon a lot. I might be biased because I'm also a nurse, but honestly one of the reasons I was looking forward to this release was because it follows a palace nurse and I was so curious to see what that would be like and the kind of medicine that was practiced during this time. I geeked out at her going to the library to look up medicines, and then making medicine with Jieun, checking pulses, just everything.

Also Eojin. Can I just say the romance in this book was actually so well done. It reminded me of kdramas because the romance is much more subtle, but the feelings and yearning still come across, but in such a soft way. I saw people talking about the "one table" scene on Twitter and honestly this is better than the "only one bed" trope sdfjsdkj THOUGH, not to get into spoilers but

when Eojin and Hyeon arrive at that woman's hut and are planning to share a room, I was like 👀, but then everything had to get bloody and murdery and ruin the moment 🥹

 

But anyway, the ending was cute, though I wish we got a little more because I love these two characters so much. Their dynamic with each other and how they're both so dedicated to solving the mystery was so good, and I also liked seeing how much Hyeon struggles with trusting Eojin because of her history with her family. I really liked how she admits she sometimes just wants to push people away so she doesn't get hurt because that is such a huge mood.

Hyeon's relationship with her parents was hard to read at times, mainly her mother's neglect and her father just being an overall horrible individual. But one thing I am happy about is that Hyeon realizes that some apologies come too late and can't make up for the way she's been treated by her parents. 

Overall, I'm rating this 4.5/5 stars. I can't wait to see what June Hur writes next, and I really hope there's more romance! Y'all know how picky I am, but this book was the perfect balance of mystery and romance for me!

yaay I'm done.

I don't feel like writing a proper review. This book was better than the second one in terms of pacing. It grips you right away and was pretty fast-paced and made for a quick read.

We still have the lovely healing magic and a scene where Halassa heals one of the priestesses who has a broken back and can't walk.

We also find out that Halassa and Calwyn are siblings, which is hilarious because Calwyn was just wondering in the last book if she should sleep with Halassa and have his kids dsjfdsklfj. Incest seems to be a thing here because we also have Samis and Keela who are kind of a couple but are also half-siblings??? This book is honestly so weird.

One thing I hated was that we got a Keela redemption, even though she did not deserve it in the least and I think if she had died and Mica had lived, everyone would have been much happier.

Also, as is typical in older fantasy, everyone is coupled off in the end. Tonno is somehow in love with Keela which is just so weird for me. We have Darrow and Calwyn of course, and apparently Trout was in love with Mica but since she's dead he's just Sad. 

Also, there's this lovely line where Briaali tells Calwyn her magic is strong now, but it'll get stronger once she isn't a virgin and has had sex with Darrow sjdfks. Though I guess the only good thing is that she'll be super strong when she's an old lady.

Calwyn still annoys me. She's rude and thoughtless sometimes. And I wish she could have made up with Mica at the end there. Also, why she and Darrow are a thing, I don't know. Also what happened between her and Samis is still a mystery and I'm very much Confusion.

Overall, this series did not live up to my expectations. I'm not shocked though since it's an older fantasy series, so I was expecting it to be somewhat problematic. That being said, the world itself, the lore and history, and the magic system is very unique from anything I've read. I am glad I eventually read this though.

I honestly do not know.

This book was weird. I still do not understand how Merithuros came to be. It honestly sounds like a bunch of white people colonized the land...I still don't understand why there are white people living here when the culture and land are clearly inspired by Egyptian/African history and folklore. The clans definitely aren't white, and the white people seem to be congregated all at the royal court, so??

The book felt much slower and was mostly taken up by travelling. And then we get to the end and stuff actually starts happening, but Darrow is also back and I honestly really hate him and have no idea what Calwyn sees in him. The one scene where Calwyn thinks maybe she should marry Halassa instead and have kids with him and they should run their little chantment school together was honestly so cute and fit so much better than whatever Calwyn thinks she has with Darrow.

Darrow is the classic moody, secretive love interest, who runs off to mope at sea, and then comes back and refuses to confide in his girlfriend and then blames her for hiding stuff from him? And he's jealous of a random guy Calwyn is travelling with who has shown absolutely zero interest in her. The power imbalance in this relationship is just gross and I hate it. I don't get the chemistry or anything. Halassa and Calwyn have a lot more going for them, even though I hate Halassa's power of healing anything and everything.

Will I finish this trilogy because I'm stubborn? Yes, but I will be annoyed.

I love picking up older fantasy series and seeing if they live up to my expectations.

This book was not bad. I couldn’t remember much from reading it as a teenager, but it definitely has a unique magic system and the world and lore is really interesting. 

I got so excited to see disabled rep in an older fantasy. I completely forgot about Darrow’s injury and him using a cane to get around. But of course that was ruined because magic ended up fixing his leg completely 🙄 Though we did end up finding out that Trout is deaf and can’t hear the Power of Seeming because it’s too high of a pitch. But I’m still upset that Darrow’s disability was easily cured because of the Power of Becoming.

I feel like the book ends off at a good spot. The story feels like it’s come to a conclusion, so I don’t know if I will pick up the next book right away. That being said, the different nations and islands and their magic systems are so interesting and make me want to see more of the world. I definitely read this book faster than I was expecting because of this.

I’m still a little confused whether Samis (our main villain) was a poc or not. It was kind of vague, but considering where he’s from it sounds like he should have been and having him as the villain was a little :/

Overall, not bad. Doesn’t quite live up to my expectations but I think that’s just a given with older fantasy