I very much enjoyed this book, and recommend listening to the audiobook! It has three different readers for Adiah, Ekon, and Koffi and was a very immersive experience. The book follows primarily Koffi and Ekon. Koffi is essentially an indentured servant at the Night Zoo, whereas Ekon is an aspiring warrior who wants to join the Sons of the Six. After a fire at the Night Zoo, both Ekon and Koffi must work together to search and find the Shetani in the Greater Jungle, who has been killing citizens in Lkossa for the last century. 

The story does start off slower, and we learn a lot about both Ekon and Koffi's background and environments before the events of the book have them enter the Greater Jungle and move the plot forward. The world-building is not information dumping, and you slowly learn more and more as you go on. Surprisingly, the author does this in a way that it doesn't feel confusing and I generally felt I caught onto the story and world quickly. 

The magic system is a hard magic system, with rules and consequences built in. Magic has a cost, and it is very interestingly explored in this book. The world's culture and religion is Pan-African inspired as well. Their culture is clearly defined, with the many cultural differences shaping Ekon and Koffi's view of each other and even of their shared religion. The characters themselves have a lot of depth, and you learn about their weaknesses and their strengths, which helps to emphasize with them further and see them as three-dimensional characters. It is not outrightly said, but Ekon does seem to suffer from OCD and PSTD due to his father's death before the book's start. 

This book blew my expectations out of the water and I didn't know where the plot was heading. There were plot twists, and betrayals, but overall it wasn't tropey in any way and I felt the overarching story was very unique. There is romance, but it is very slowburn and is not a main plot point. I do think in the sequel, this will be explored further. Overall, this is an amazing story and despite the slower start, if you enjoy YA fantasy, this is a book to pick up! 

I've heard mixed reviews leading up to reading this, and I'm so glad that I liked this book! I found the book couple very cute and I enjoyed and believed their romance. I thoroughly enjoyed the character Tansy. She felt very comforting and very relatable. The romance is not slow-burn, they are interested in each other pretty quickly which normally I don't like. However, this book seems to flip the script on marriages of convenience and I really enjoyed the way their relationship developed pretty early on and throughout the book. There was a small third act breakup and I genuinely felt there was little miscommunication because both characters showed they cared and miscommunication was very small. 

One thing that bothered me was the writing. It did feel a bit juvenile for an adult book, with very cringy jokes and sayings occasionally. There is a scene in a board meeting that felt EXTREMELY unrealistic, but that's probably just due to me drawing on my own experience in comparison. 

It's been a long time since I read the Atlas Six (which I should have reread before starting the sequel) so it is hard to compare it to the first. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

It is definitely a bit slower to get through than most books because it has so much highly intellectual writing, which could also be described as pretentious. Because of the prose and concepts discussed, sometimes I found it hard to follow the story or 100% understand the plot. However, this is definitely a character driven story and I feel like the quality here that most people like is just the overall vibes, which is the most fun aspect of this series. 

In the first book, I feel like a lot more of the story centered around Libby and Nico, and in this book we got a lot more insight into Tristan and Callum, mostly their backgrounds and you start to see them recognize and understand their flaws further. I felt like this book made me care about the characters even more, all six, and I liked all of the characters a lot more, even when they aren't necessarily the nicest or greatest people. I would say the biggest growth came from Libby

who now has completely shed her moral objections

and Tristan. 

I was invested from the beginning and I liked how the plot twisted and turned. There's still a lot of mysteries that are not revealed, especially about the Society and even further the character of Atlas. to I'm curious to see how the next book progresses based on the ending of this one. 

This is extremely fast paced and very much focuses on the murder mystery side of the book. If you like reading about true crime and wish to combine that with fantasy, I think this is the book for you. 

I would say this book is very plot forward. The world building isn't immediate, but it is medieval inspired so there is not much to learn other than the religion and magic system. I personally enjoy plot heavy books where the story is following events rather than the characters. 

We are reading from the POV of Cat, who is an orphan who works for an architect designing the Holy Sanctum (which in my mind translated to massive Catholic cathedrals). She is able to spot flaws in the construction and climb on the scaffolds easier than others. I found this setting very interesting and unique, as it's something I've never read much about before. Cat becomes involved in the investigation after becoming a witness to the first murder, where she gets closer to Simon, the detective, who is cousin to the children of the Executor of Justice. As Cat gets further drawn into the investigation, we learn more about Simon and his cousins, Juliane, Lambert, and Oudin. 

The romance is slowburn and enjoyable in this book, but it is not the main plot. I did find the predict the killer about halfway through the book, but regardless I found it interesting. This book combines fantasy and murder mystery so well and in such a unique way! Overall, I immensely enjoyed it. It did wrap up the story well so I am curious what the next book will follow as I heard it would be a duology. 

I really enjoyed this book! It follows Lan and Zen, our two main characters as they meet and work together to fight against the colonizing power in their homeland, the Elantians. Lan works as an indentured worker in a teahouse 12 years after the invasion when she meets Zen, and they subsequently free her, where she begins to learn more about her past and her abilities. 

First things first, the world building is AMAZING and inspired by Chinese mythology and history. It is so, so immersive, including the language, customs, and spiritual beliefs. For example, words like "I'm sorry" are "Forgiveness" in their language and the depth really helps you stay engaged. There is a lot to learn in the beginning, so you do feel confused when first picking it up and it is a bit slow but it does get easier as you learn more. Throughout this book there is continuous world building, especially as you learn more about the past dynasties and the four demon gods. It does feel like a lot to learn, but I assume that's to set you up for the last fourth of the book and sequel. Even as a YA, there is commentary on the horrors of colonialism and forced assimilation of the Hin citizens into Elation society. 

The magic system is very unique and is based upon a person's internal qì and the balance between Yīn and Yáng, and use this magic through Seals. It was explained in detail to where you could understand it easily, and I found it interesting that there were variations, with Lan's musical ability to make Seals and use her qì.

As the book progresses, I really enjoyed getting to know both Lan and Zen and seeing each perspective since it is dual POV. Both struggle with what is right and what's wrong morally in how to fight against a too powerful enemy that's already conquered their homeland and killed and hurt their loved ones. There is a slowburn romance, but it is not a central part of the story and it's very much plot driven. One critique is that it is hard to care for the side characters, because I don't feel we have had enough time with them and development, specifically characters like Shàn'jūn. They felt more like plot devices to further either Lan or Zen's journey (with the exception of the grandmaster). Overall though, I do feel connected to the main characters as the story goes on and you can see the choices they grapple and their shared convictions. 

The last third to fourth of the book, the action picks up immensely. You have plot twist after plot twist, and I couldn't put the book down here. The stakes are extremely high and it stays tense until the end. I am excited to continue the next book, and I also think it sets it up well to where we will explore more of the side characters such as Shàn'jūn, Tai, and Dilaya.