Such an exciting wintry read! I absolutely loved the Polish-coded setting, the clear fictionalized ties to real historical events, and all the cultural details about the festivities, the food, the clothes—everything. All the descriptions were so engrossing and vivid, and I really felt transported into the story. I also really liked all the monstrous witchcraft lore that made this book the perfect scary fairytale for the dark part of the year. 

Marinka quickly became my favorite character with her fiery competitiveness and strong spirit. I kind of expected to like Zosia more because her arc/inner conflict sounded like something I usually find quite interesting. Somehow though, while I didn't mind her and liked her dynamic with Marinka, her personality didn't particularly endear her to me, although she kept growing on me more and more as the story went on. I absolutely loved Beata and her friendship with Marinka. And that secondary romance with my absolute favorite flavor of friends-to-enemies-to-lovers dynamic? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. My favorite aspect of the book, really. Those two are going to live in my head rent-free for a long time. 

There were some pacing issues in the first half of the story, and then some of the events in the second half felt rushed, which is the one reason this isn't a full five-star read for me. Otherwise, this is a great tale of chaotic villainous queers, and exactly the wintry read I needed.

I think my impressions on the book are a bit... patchy. I really liked the first half. Ghost and Auri were both so sweet, individually and together, and even though objectively their relationship and the development of feelings moved fast, the way it was described had a very slow-burn feel to it—exactly the vibe I enjoy. Two shy anxious individuals coming together in that gentle way? Give me more.

I also really liked the shift from "wandering around the post-apocalyptic wastelands, stopping at abandoned buildings that mysteriously have water and electricity most of the time" to a far more community-focused story. Lots of new characters to meet here, lots of obvious set-up for future books, lots of interesting relationships in the Raiders' camp. I really enjoyed Anchor as a character and would love to get to know her more. Despite being a side character, she had an interesting arc and her struggles made me feel for her. I also liked Ghost and Rig's friendship, found myself super intrigued by Lilac, and I want to get to know Moth more. 

Later in the story, though, I began to... not quite lose interest, but there were some aspects of the book I found frustrating. The Rycke as a species didn't make much sense to me, neither biologically nor psychologically nor in general. I get the idea, it's a fun and interesting idea, but the way all the bits of it were put together just felt contrived in so many ways. There are also aspects of the setting that still raise a lot of questions for me and threaten to fall apart if poked at too hard. Also, there are some things about the monsters that are getting seriously repetitive—such as, why do they never have to eat or drink? Give me a monster with a really weird food preference instead! 

Even though I enjoyed the characters and the humor, this book was rather hard for me to get to because of the prose. I totally get what sort of effect the author was going for, and maybe it's just an ESL thing, but the language was just a bit too quirky and whimsical. For me, it ended up to be distracting rather than immersive.

The plot was also a lot of thinner than I expected from the blurb and the book's overall presentation. I thought there'd be a bit more action and excitement; instead, what was building up to be the main plot got resolved in a matter of a few short chapters, and then it turned into a rather slice-of-life story. And hey, I love slice-of-life! When it's presented as such and doesn't keep promising to turn into some sort of revenge plot soon, except first let's spend some time making jokes and house-cleaning. Basically a case of misplaced expectations, I guess.

Another aspect here that was a lot thinner than I would have liked: worldbuilding. At the beginning of the story, there's a lot of promising stuff. Magic! A fantasy version of Victorian society with all the class issues that come with it! Mystery drugs! But then none of that gets properly explored, and most of the cool factors about this setting fill like just some whimsical trappings. Something decorative and not to well thought-through.

There were lots of genuinely funny moments, Delly and Winn were cute together, and I generally liked Delly as the MC. But overall, this book fell quite flat for me, I'm sorry to say.

In some ways, I enjoyed this book more than Soul Eater, in others, a bit less. Regardless, this was a pretty solid read with lots of fun and exciting moments. I really liked how much the setting got expanded here, with all sorts of new monster types introduced and concepts mentioned in the first book growing into bigger things. I also felt that the overall pacing and sense of purpose was much better here, likely because this time, the protagonist/narrator actually had a solid external goal. Speaking of the protagonist, I liked Hunter a lot. Yes, he's grumpy and surly, but I actually really, really like reading about unlikable people still getting to grow and learn and let themselves be happy. His inner conflict was also quite interesting to follow, and I adored how self-aware he was underneath all of his flaws. Also, I felt like his disability was handled pretty well.

Another thing I really liked was getting to see so much of Wyn and Danny. I expected a cameo or two, but they ended up such important participants of the entire plot, being there for most of the story, and it was so fun to observethem through someone else's eyes. I really like that found family vibe the entire gang developed: the long-standing friendship between Wyn and Edin, the tentative growing friendship between Danny and Hunter, the tension between Wyn and Hunter, the way Wyn and Danny continue to be just so good to each other and obviously aren't anywhere out of the honeymoon phase. 

I think all of the above would have been even more enjoyable if most of the scenes were a bit tighter. Even though the overall pacing has improved, there were all those moments of meandering, like the same thing being repeated 2-3 times in random conversations, etc. The kind of thing that happens in real life all the time, sure, but when characters in a book keep talking that way, it stops feeling realistic/authentic and starts getting tiresome. 

I also have to admit that Edin and Hunter just didn't make me ship them as hard as Wyn and Danny did. I enjoyed their dynamic, for sure, but I also found it kind of... bland? Perhaps if Edin opened up more, or let something slip to Hunter about his past run-ins with the military before learning that Hunter was actually military himself, that would have added a bit of spice to the relationship. (In the emotional sense, not sexual sense, obviously; there was plenty of it in the sexual sense :D) Perhaps there could be some other adjustments. Or quite possibly it's not at all about the books or the characters and quite simply a "me" thing. 

Anyway, objectively this was a pretty fun read, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

My opinion of this book kept swinging back and forth as I read, but I think by the end the positives outweighed the negatives. I was definitely finishing it with a smile on my face and a hint of sadness at having to say goodbye to these characters. Daromir and Vana intrigued me even back during their appearances in Prince and Disguise, and I can't say I was disappointed to see them fleshed out here in their own book. (Okay, maybe a little bit disappointed when it came to Vana, but more of that later.) 

The transition to the Draskora arc of the series felt fairly smooth. I think the author did a better job than before when it came to reminding the reader what was up, who were all these people, which ones we've met before and how, which ones we've heard of, etc. The earlier books are rather fresh on my mind still, but I did appreciate it. The Draskoran court sure feels a lot different from the Sandry royal family; I can't say I liked a lot of the people in this book, but I was definitely intrigued by many of them. Kazia is probably my favorite; I really, really want to know what's hidden behind that whimsical chaotic evil demeanor, and I somehow get the feeling that by the end of the book, he was the one who got exactly what he wanted.

The magic here was particularly exciting, both when it came to flashy magic battles and the changing bond between the leads. I do wish it was better explained what catalyzed the changes, because instead of answers, there were mostly just theories. But hey, the effect of it was sure interesting! As usual, fellcats and dragons absolutely rule. Pity Vana's dreamhawk just existed on the fringes, serving more as a metaphor for Vana's longing for freedom than a proper pet/animal companion. Magical birds can be fun.

Since I appear to be moving slowly into the complaints territory, I guess I'll explain that disappointment I mentioned earlier. In truth, it's not aimed so much at the character as at the way his story is told. It took me a while to figure out what Vana even wants. His goals, motivations, his entire agenda, all of it seemed so nebulous... until I finally figured out that the whole point of his arc was that he didn't really have much in the way of agendas and goals. He seemed rather determined to be a pawn. He cared about his place on the board, for sure; he did enough to keep himself and Daro in a reasonably secure position. But that was about it. And hey, that's a choice, too. That's an interesting choice to explore, even. And the way his arc culminates is perfectly in line with the choice—it was really gratifying to see him find a line he wouldn't cross and execute a rather clean-looking escape. It also tied very well with the romance arc and the way the issue of codependency between the leads was addressed: yes, they did look pretty codependent at times, because of the situation they were in, but there was a clear limit to how far it went.

What I sorely missed was an exploration of the reasons that made Vana like that. I mean, yeah, clearly they were rooted in his position at court as the adopted prince who was also a hostage, as well as the feelings of abandonment and duty coming from his birth family. But it was all kind of... told, not shown. I wanted to see how exactly griping with these realities and feelings led him to this point. I wanted to understand how his proactivity evidently kept decreasing over the years, because he's decidedly less proactive here than he was as a side character in an earlier book. And—back to the romance—I also wanted to see how his relationship with Daromir progressed over the years, even though I get the feelings the slow burn would absolutely crush me. But honestly, I always prefer crushing, maddening slow burn to this kind of compressed version: on one hand, this is a story of two people who've been best friends forever before they found the bravery to explore their feelings. On the other hand, that "forever" is almost an informed attribute. They meet, they instantly connect. Then lots of years pass, and they're best friends rather close to becoming lovers. Where's that in-between? Like, there was some of it, but absolutely not enough.

Both problems from the above paragraph could be addressed, I feel, if the book was both a bit bigger and differently structured. A dual timeline could help. Or simply a liberal inclusion of flashbacks. Don't keep mentioning Vana's blood-magical eye color change, show me the scene. Don't make allusions to how Vana and Daromir had to figure out how to handle their bond, show me some of it. Both the character arcs and the relationship arc could be so much better for it.

Still, even with all that, it was a rather enjoyable read, and I'm excited for the next books about Draskora. The political plot here was interesting enough, although because Vana was so uninvested in actually participating in it, I feel like there were plenty of details that were left not just unexplored but unrevealed. I hope all those parts are addressed and brought together over the next couple of books, and I can't wait to get my hands on them. I also hope to keep seeing familiar faces from Silaise, and keeping my fingers crossed that the situation in Kaiskara will continue getting addressed somehow. Actually, I'd love a book about Arla someday: from what l've seen here, he's a badass trans captain after my own heart. Can we find him a nice pirate or something?

Well, this was a disappointment—and I didn't even expect that much. I'm not even sure where to start off listing of the factors that made this so unenjoyable.

I guess the main problem for me was the pacing/structuring. There's a lot of stuff here that I expected to be fun, but the way it was delivered made having any sort of fun impossible. Both in terms of the romance and the external plot, most of the things that deserved to be dwelt on and digged in deeper ended up summarized at best. And it's not like there wasn't any room for those things, despite the small page count. Because plenty of space was wasted on repetitive pseudo-funny conversations and overall meandering. Also, the romance beats were just off in so many ways, and not in a "clever twist on the familiar structure while still keeping up with the genre cnventions" way at all.

The second big problem were the characters. I liked Lesto fine in the previous book, but as a POV character he didn't work for me. Part of it came from lots of telling/summarizing instead of showing, I'm sure. Part of it was just... how juvenile he was for a man in his early 40s? Honestly, just about everyone here acts like a dumb teenager. There are all those overaching mysteries and political plot threads going on, and the characters are primarily concerned with who fucked and/or punched whom. *facepalms* I just wanted to shake them all and make them pay attention to the actually interesting things going on. The most mature presence here was Allen, and he's the youngest person in the cast iirc. 

Really, all of this is a shame, because when I look back at the actual events of the book, a lot of them seem fun and interesting? But the way they were presented/laid out ruined them. Just goes to show that the shape of a book is no less important than the substance in many ways.

At the same time, I still enjoyed the worldbuilding with all these different languages and cultures, and there were hints of future plot threads that seem so intriguing—and so easy to ruin if handled with the same all-over-the-place approach. I guess because of those things, I'll tentatively commit to not giving up on the rest of the series. But I'm also not in any hurry to delve into the next book.

Such an enjoyable read! There was a distinct old-school vibe here to me; I can't quite place a finger on it, but the novels strongly reminded me of all those fantasy books I kept borrowing from the library in my teens and devouring by the dozen without bothering to commit the author names and titles to long-term memory. Just this overall strong sense of adventure and surprises and high stakes that will turn out all right at the end.

I really enjoyed how the plot was crafted here. The first half of the book is packed with surprises and reveals: every time I thought I had a sense of what was going on with Inge's predicament as the King's adopted "son," a new fact about her background came to light, like a puzzle piece seamlessly falling into a gap I wasn't aware was there. And then the second half was all about untangling those threads and tying them into a reasonably neat knot at the end.

I guess I would have appreciated a little bit more depth to the characters and the romance arc, but overall, I enjoyed what I got. Inge was a likable and relatable protagonist, and each of her siblings was memorable enough on their own, despite there being a lot of them and the lot only showing up now and then. I was intrigued by the King's apparent madness and the agenda hidden behind it, and I sympathized with the prince. And my favorite character here is definitely Raske: exactly the kind of good guy with hidden depths I tend to like.

The worldbuilding was rather sparse now that I look back at it, but it also contained enough exciting things like magic and monsters to keep me entertained without detracting from the interpersonal relationships and palace politics at the heart of the tale. There were just enough fantasy elements to support the story being told, and I honestly can't call this a bad thing.

Overall, this was a nice, warm-hearted read that prevented me from tittering over the edge of a reading slump that has been threatening to consume me lately. :)

This book had a peculiar effect on me: I didn't feel particularly invested in it as I read, but I still literally couldn't put it down until I finished the entire thing in one big gulp. The sense of setting is really strong here. I felt fully present in the Japanese forest, watching the seasons change, and I felt immersed in all the cultural traditions of Kamusari. I enjoyed the sense of borderline magical realism here, with all the mentions of gods and spirits, and the nature itself providing an almost mystical presence.

At times, this felt more like non-fiction than a novel, and not because the story was presented as the notes the protagonist took during his time in Kamusari. Mostly because this is so much a story about forestry that it's barely a *story*. I learned a lot about Japanese forests, and how they change with the seasons, and how trees are felled, and how the woods can be protected from forest fires, and how nasty the ticks are. There was a smattering of colorful personalities involved in collections of scenes that felt more like personal anecdotes than anything forming an actual narrative. I felt detached from pretty much every character I met—it was like they were only there to illustrate various facets of the location that was the *real* protagonist. Even the MC/narrator is a blank slate: all we know about him is that he's freshly out of school, drifting, uncertain about his future, and is embarrassed of secretly writing poetry, which his mother uses to blackmail him into going taking a forestry job in the middle of nowhere for a year (weird, but okay).

I went in expecting a slice-of-life coming-of-age story; I got a nature documentary in book format. Surprised, but I'm not complaining!