First, I missed Dresden so much. Its been so long. I sped through this as soon as it came out. Its interesting seeing how the Winter mantle is settling on Dresden. And how he deals without his old"weapons" the staff and bracelet. I appreciate Butcher's practical almost scientific approach to Harry's use of magic. The plot for this book was sort of this supernatural Ocean's Eleven type of heist so the cast of characters was interesting. One thing I love about this series is that different bits of lore and legend it includes; this book in particular had it in spades. I also appreciate that Mr. Butcher still manages to surprise me. It took some futzing with the timeline but it happened. It ended well, things are far from perfect but that's what we get in this world. Harry's daughter is adorable and Butters was/is awesome!!

This was good. I guess it's YA which I didn't get from the summary. I like the characters and the world. I kept getting stuck on Chaol's age though. he just acts older than 22 to me. I can't wait to go on to the next one but it will have to wait.

That was fucking awesome. A little sad that all the main characters have been separate in this book but they each had their own journeys to take. We met lots of new characters, all of whom were equally as awesome as our old faves. A few mysteries were cleared up but tons of new ones came to replace them. Honestly, this doesn't read like a YA book, thankfully. This is epic world-building and character development at its best. Its exciting and and not at all heavy with unnecessary prose. Sarah J. Mass may be my favorite new author. I cannot wait to read what happens next.

The first half was kind of meh, but the second half.... it was like one huge reveal after another. I honestly only have one problem with this series. Chaol's age. He's supposed to be 22/23 and the Captain of the Guard. His whole timeline is weird in my head but aside from that I find it hard to believe that the King decided this young guy, great as he is was better for the job than any older, more experienced guard. And they do exist, a few were mentioned in this book unlike the first book. And none of these more experienced guards have issues or resentment towards this manchild (essentially) usurping what should rightfully be their position? Now, it could be a thing of the King choosing someone young that he can easily hide secrets from and/or manipulate and everyone else being too afraid of him to question his decision but who knows.

Anyway, can't wait to read the next book, its bound to be interesting since the settings will now change and the main characters will probably be apart for a long time.