This was a lot of... traveling. Good adventure with a clear arch and final showdown but a lot of back and fourth. Lost the tension and magic of book one and even two.

I really enjoyed her Foolish Kingdom series #1 Trick so if thought I'd try this. It was fine but just... Fine.

Probably more than the others in the series this could be read as a standalone, although the last few paragraphs of the epilogue might not make much sense. The books in this series are always a bit bittersweet and of course take place in very fantastical worlds but are always full of so much truth. Similarly to my feelings after I finished this author’s recent novel Middlegame, you can actually feel her coming into her self as a storyteller. There are so many awesome things about watching an author’s career progress and that’s one of them: every story just gets better, more emotionally gutting, truthful, funny, and everything in between. Lundys story is no different.

This is a book about aging, family, and humor. Not always easy, often sad, and usually relatable. One of his best yet.

This was a fun fantasy genre mystery with an engaging main character. The world building got a little confusing and I still have some unanswered confusion about the social constructs in this hypothetical country but overall a fun read. The romance is light touch and doesn’t feel fan-fictiony to me (as other reviews mentioned), although as with many stories they are in love quickly by real life standards. Nice to see a gay love story that isn’t solely about that issue, but rather integrated into a fantasy novel. That said, they face some issues.

This title, and if we’re being honest the plot, are cheesy as hell, but the writing duo who make up Ilona Andrews are just fun, talented authors. They’re experts in slow burn relationship building and creating interesting magical worlds. As a couple I suspect they’re fun as hell at game night. I’ve enjoyed a few of their series now.