I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I’m not even sure where to begin. 

First and foremost, there’s a lot of danger in this world from the Blackened plague-like people to raiders to demons springing from cocoons and laying waste to anyone around. The tone is very bleak from the characters point of view. They’ve just bested the country’s villain and are now dealing with fallout. One might think it more upbeat, but war is a bitch, and this book doesn’t lie about it.

The pacing, for me, moves along just fine. This book rotates POV through a few characters, and I did find myself wanting to stay with two POVs in particular. The prose is quick and clean, and the world is detailed but doesn’t bog down the story.

Of course, for me as a reader, I’m completely obsessed with characters, and if I don’t get a good one, I move on, no matter how wonderful the prose or how interesting a world is presented. Characters make me read. And I loved loved loved Aranok and Allandria. Their relationship actually made sense and felt adult and real. Aranok is a sorcerer and can perform some nifty magic, while Allandria is extremely adept with the bow. They make quite the pair, and the way they care for one another was done beautifully. 

I’ll also mention in regards to the women that I found their relationships with one another very real, and it made me realize how little friendships between women is done in fantasy. Not to say it isn’t, but it hasn’t been prevalent in many books I’ve read.

What got me even more excited was that a few twist totally caught me off guard. I did not see them coming, which is usually rare for me. Overall, this is a very entertaining read, and I devoured the second book and promptly went into a book hangover. By the way, the second book is even better! Now I have to wait a year for the third book and two for the fourth. A YEAR! Ugh!