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The Five Penalties #2
The Cage of Dark Hours
The Cage of Dark Hours is the second novel in the epic fantasy trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter, where the defeat of a serial killer back from the dead has pulled the mask off the myths and magics of a fantastical city.
Krona and her Regulators survived their encounter with Charbon, the long-dead serial killer who returned to their city, but the illusions of their world were shattered forever.
Allied with an old friend they will battle the elite who have ruled their world with deception, cold steel, and tight control of the magic that could threaten their power, while also confronting beasts from beyond the foggy barrier that binds their world.
Now they must follow every thread to uncover the truth behind the Thalo, once thought of as only a children's tale, who are the quiet, creeping puppet masters of their world.
The Five Penalties
The Helm of Midnight
The Cage of Dark Hours
The Teeth of Dawn
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Krona and her Regulators survived their encounter with Charbon, the long-dead serial killer who returned to their city, but the illusions of their world were shattered forever.
Allied with an old friend they will battle the elite who have ruled their world with deception, cold steel, and tight control of the magic that could threaten their power, while also confronting beasts from beyond the foggy barrier that binds their world.
Now they must follow every thread to uncover the truth behind the Thalo, once thought of as only a children's tale, who are the quiet, creeping puppet masters of their world.
The Five Penalties
The Helm of Midnight
The Cage of Dark Hours
The Teeth of Dawn
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 14, 2023
52 people are currently reading
2446 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 155 reviews
April 29, 2025
Not as great as Helm, but still a really good sequel!
February 10, 2023
Dark magic, a child stealing cult, and secrets long-hidden....
The Cage of Dark Hours is a solid follow up to The Helm of Midnight, though it definitely feels like the middle book in a series and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first. I was expecting something with more of a full story arc like we got in book 1, but instead this is more the first half of what is to come in book 3.
We follow some familiar characters from book one, but expand to new ones as well. Most notably, one of the perspectives is a child growing up in an abusive magical cult that steals babies to raise as their own. We slowly learn more about the world, the magic, and lies that have been told for generations. It's certainly not a light book, but the world is genuinely interesting and I want to see what happens in the next installment. I was most invested in the cult child perspective, but it was also difficult to read about how the children were treated.
I love that this series is set in a queer norm society and we get casual gender and sexual diversity throughout. Overall, a solid second book and I look forward to more! The audio narration is well done. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
The Cage of Dark Hours is a solid follow up to The Helm of Midnight, though it definitely feels like the middle book in a series and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first. I was expecting something with more of a full story arc like we got in book 1, but instead this is more the first half of what is to come in book 3.
We follow some familiar characters from book one, but expand to new ones as well. Most notably, one of the perspectives is a child growing up in an abusive magical cult that steals babies to raise as their own. We slowly learn more about the world, the magic, and lies that have been told for generations. It's certainly not a light book, but the world is genuinely interesting and I want to see what happens in the next installment. I was most invested in the cult child perspective, but it was also difficult to read about how the children were treated.
I love that this series is set in a queer norm society and we get casual gender and sexual diversity throughout. Overall, a solid second book and I look forward to more! The audio narration is well done. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
March 30, 2023
4.0 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/yJuEtLpNYNw
This was a solid sequel to The Helm of Midnight, which was one of my favourite fantasy debut. The first one had a mystery element that is taken away in the second. So instead this one read as a bit more of a standard mystery with elements of fantasy.
That being said, I am still very much invested in this series and look forward to reading through the rest of the series as it gets published. I would strongly recommend picking up The Helm of Midnight if you haven't already.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Video Review: https://youtu.be/yJuEtLpNYNw
This was a solid sequel to The Helm of Midnight, which was one of my favourite fantasy debut. The first one had a mystery element that is taken away in the second. So instead this one read as a bit more of a standard mystery with elements of fantasy.
That being said, I am still very much invested in this series and look forward to reading through the rest of the series as it gets published. I would strongly recommend picking up The Helm of Midnight if you haven't already.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
May 9, 2025
4.5/5
For a big part of the story I didn't know where we were going with this plot, but when things started clicking? I lost it, cause that's a hell of a way to close the second book, knowing that the next one will be the conclusion.
We also got more time with Thibaut, who might be my favourite character in the series.
This book, or the whole series, is so intricate I don't even know how I could explain to someone what this second book is about. But damn I need answers.
For a big part of the story I didn't know where we were going with this plot, but when things started clicking? I lost it, cause that's a hell of a way to close the second book, knowing that the next one will be the conclusion.
We also got more time with Thibaut, who might be my favourite character in the series.
This book, or the whole series, is so intricate I don't even know how I could explain to someone what this second book is about. But damn I need answers.
January 26, 2025
4.25⭐️
“the dual awe and ugliness of excess.”
This trilogy is tragically underhyped!! I have physical copies of Cage and Helm but couldn’t handle tearing myself away for adulting. I ended up listening to decent portions of both novels and the audio narration is superb. I’m super excited for The Teeth of Dawn release on January 28th! I read an excerpt and it takes off in an entirely unexpected direction.
“They make reality unreal by letting it fall from the lips of the unreliable.”
“the dual awe and ugliness of excess.”
This trilogy is tragically underhyped!! I have physical copies of Cage and Helm but couldn’t handle tearing myself away for adulting. I ended up listening to decent portions of both novels and the audio narration is superb. I’m super excited for The Teeth of Dawn release on January 28th! I read an excerpt and it takes off in an entirely unexpected direction.
“They make reality unreal by letting it fall from the lips of the unreliable.”
February 5, 2023
This arc was provided by Tor Books, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
TW: (body) gore, emotional child abuse, death, grief
The Helm of Midnight - 4.5 stars
The Cage of Dark Hours is a much awaited sequel and it does not disappoint in the slightest.
Where The Helm of Midnight felt like a detective story in a fantasy setting, the sequel has upped the stakes and put so much at risk.
In the first book, we follow Krona as she investigates the disappearance of a powerful death mask that belongs to the deceased serial killer Louis Charbon. In this world upon your death, your ability goes into a death mask along with your echo and memories so that someone can use your mask and learn about your special ability. For example, your ability is to manipulate/persuade people to do your bidding, the person who uses your mask will learn and be able to use your ability as long as they use the mask.
That is, if they can control the echo of the deceased.
And there is more complexity to the magic system and the world building. There is the constant threat of the varg, the monsters who can't be killed, only subdued and they are Krona's deepest fears.
The Cage of Dark Hours continues a few years after the events of the first book and we see how much Krona has changed as a person, even if not always for the better. We also follow two unlikely characters who keep you guessing at what is truly happening in the story.
I had no expectations for what could happen and my expectations were surpassed by the excellent writing and the reveals throughout the novel. There is so much more to the story than where we began with Charbon and I am anxious to see it all play out in the following sequel.
I don't want to spoil the events for this one so please take my word: if you enjoyed The Helm of Midnight, you will not be disappointed by the sequel.
The Cage of Dark Hours is a worthy continuation of what will undoubtedly become one of the best fantasies of all time.
TW: (body) gore, emotional child abuse, death, grief
The Helm of Midnight - 4.5 stars
The dark hours were for ghosts.
The Cage of Dark Hours is a much awaited sequel and it does not disappoint in the slightest.
Where The Helm of Midnight felt like a detective story in a fantasy setting, the sequel has upped the stakes and put so much at risk.
In the first book, we follow Krona as she investigates the disappearance of a powerful death mask that belongs to the deceased serial killer Louis Charbon. In this world upon your death, your ability goes into a death mask along with your echo and memories so that someone can use your mask and learn about your special ability. For example, your ability is to manipulate/persuade people to do your bidding, the person who uses your mask will learn and be able to use your ability as long as they use the mask.
That is, if they can control the echo of the deceased.
And there is more complexity to the magic system and the world building. There is the constant threat of the varg, the monsters who can't be killed, only subdued and they are Krona's deepest fears.
The Cage of Dark Hours continues a few years after the events of the first book and we see how much Krona has changed as a person, even if not always for the better. We also follow two unlikely characters who keep you guessing at what is truly happening in the story.
I had no expectations for what could happen and my expectations were surpassed by the excellent writing and the reveals throughout the novel. There is so much more to the story than where we began with Charbon and I am anxious to see it all play out in the following sequel.
I don't want to spoil the events for this one so please take my word: if you enjoyed The Helm of Midnight, you will not be disappointed by the sequel.
The Cage of Dark Hours is a worthy continuation of what will undoubtedly become one of the best fantasies of all time.
December 26, 2024
For fans of The Fifth Season and Gideon the Ninth.
Three years later.
Krona is grieving the loss of her sister and is seeking forbidden information.
Mandip is a young Lord, a twin, part of a delegation to the city who gets involved with Thibaut who is, of course, orbiting around Krona.
Then we have a pov from a Thalo child, learning about their cultish practises.
This instalment definitely revealed many more layers to the world and secrets that changed our very perception of the gods, enchantments, time, and magic.
Beware of whiplash.
“Never be surprised when the man who cut you off at the knees starts to look like a giant.”
Krona is having an identity crisis. Who is she without her sister? This sense of loss makes her a passive character to follow at the start and I was more invested in other POVs, but boy does she make a comeback.
I loved the relationships in this book. It is queer, it is witty, it is teasing. If you liked the Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyon - here is another one for you!
Book three, I have no idea what you have in store for me.
Bookstagram
Three years later.
Krona is grieving the loss of her sister and is seeking forbidden information.
Mandip is a young Lord, a twin, part of a delegation to the city who gets involved with Thibaut who is, of course, orbiting around Krona.
Then we have a pov from a Thalo child, learning about their cultish practises.
This instalment definitely revealed many more layers to the world and secrets that changed our very perception of the gods, enchantments, time, and magic.
Beware of whiplash.
“Never be surprised when the man who cut you off at the knees starts to look like a giant.”
Krona is having an identity crisis. Who is she without her sister? This sense of loss makes her a passive character to follow at the start and I was more invested in other POVs, but boy does she make a comeback.
I loved the relationships in this book. It is queer, it is witty, it is teasing. If you liked the Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyon - here is another one for you!
Book three, I have no idea what you have in store for me.
Bookstagram
October 14, 2024
4.5 stars
This book zooms out to broaden the story and gets even more fascinating! I can't wait for book 3!!
This book zooms out to broaden the story and gets even more fascinating! I can't wait for book 3!!
February 24, 2023
15/02/2023
2023 reads book 16
Knowledge is power, and those who don’t know how to apply it must not have it.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-Arc of this book.
I am speechless with how good this was. The first book as a murder/heist mystery, the second one just blew the whole world wide open. Krona, in the aftermath of the happenings in the first book, is trying to navigate the world 3 years later. We meet some new character, and we get to know some other (beloved) characters better. I am already dreading the wait I will have to endure for the third book in the series! Middle book syndrome? This author really has never heard of it! I’m begging anyone that hasn’t started this series yet to please go read it, so I can scream my emotions at someone instead of into the void like I’m currently doing.
20/01/2023
I GOT AN E-ARC, SCREAMING RIGHT NOW
2023 reads book 16
Knowledge is power, and those who don’t know how to apply it must not have it.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-Arc of this book.
I am speechless with how good this was. The first book as a murder/heist mystery, the second one just blew the whole world wide open. Krona, in the aftermath of the happenings in the first book, is trying to navigate the world 3 years later. We meet some new character, and we get to know some other (beloved) characters better. I am already dreading the wait I will have to endure for the third book in the series! Middle book syndrome? This author really has never heard of it! I’m begging anyone that hasn’t started this series yet to please go read it, so I can scream my emotions at someone instead of into the void like I’m currently doing.
20/01/2023
I GOT AN E-ARC, SCREAMING RIGHT NOW
March 10, 2024
I am bummed :(
In my review of the first book I mentioned that I felt like interesting ideas got lost in a scope that was too big for the book to adequately handle.
unfortunately, I felt like this issue only worsened in the sequel. We have multiple new viewpoints and multiple new timelines and even the remaining viewpoint from book one (Krona) is two years ahead of the first book.
I also felt like the book’s plot came across as pretty directionless for a while. I wasn’t sure what was driving certain characters other than reacting to the actions of others around them. And the world/magic/etc just got more and more complicated, but it felt like a house of cards because there was never a solid foundation - and I felt like entire new systems of magic were appearing out of thin air.
I am probably coming across harsh, and there are positive aspects present. I just wish I wasn’t so frustrated by a book that feels determined to hold itself back from being the dark, gritty, inventive fantasy it could have been.
I am wavering between a two and a three - objectively it probably is a three but I’m so hurt it wasn’t better I emotionally am feeling a two.
In my review of the first book I mentioned that I felt like interesting ideas got lost in a scope that was too big for the book to adequately handle.
unfortunately, I felt like this issue only worsened in the sequel. We have multiple new viewpoints and multiple new timelines and even the remaining viewpoint from book one (Krona) is two years ahead of the first book.
I also felt like the book’s plot came across as pretty directionless for a while. I wasn’t sure what was driving certain characters other than reacting to the actions of others around them. And the world/magic/etc just got more and more complicated, but it felt like a house of cards because there was never a solid foundation - and I felt like entire new systems of magic were appearing out of thin air.
I am probably coming across harsh, and there are positive aspects present. I just wish I wasn’t so frustrated by a book that feels determined to hold itself back from being the dark, gritty, inventive fantasy it could have been.
I am wavering between a two and a three - objectively it probably is a three but I’m so hurt it wasn’t better I emotionally am feeling a two.
September 8, 2023
I NEED THIS NOW
edit: OKAY I PREORDERED IT
after reading: this book was crazy
edit: OKAY I PREORDERED IT
after reading: this book was crazy
June 27, 2023
Cults, magic, dead gods, assassination attempts, and opera singers.
February 10, 2023
TL;DR
The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter builds upon and surpasses the first book in the Five Penalties series. Readers, once again, follow Krona through crimes, through mystery, and through magic. This time, Krona will learn secrets that she isn’t prepared for. Highly recommended.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
Review: The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter
Thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien, the stereotypical impression of fantasy are big books that come in three. Trilogies are the staple of the fantasy genre, and most of the attention is paid either to book one or three. Does the first book take off? If so, will the author end it with a bang? Second books don’t quite get the love that they deserve, and there is an argument to be made for it being more important than the other books. After all, it has to build on the world and story of the first book, develop existing characters while introducing new ones, and grab the reader without overshadowing a potentially amazing finale. The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter does more than this. She doesn’t just build upon the foundation of the first book, she’s dives straight into the mythology and attacks it. This excellent followup to The Helm of Midnight takes the mythological creatures from book one and explores them in a depth and detail that I wasn’t prepared for. The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter was not what I was expecting from a second book in a series, but it was exactly what I wanted.
Thalo Child opens the book by being part of a Thalo ritual. He walks with the procession as six year old children are led to altars to place cement on their eyes. (It’ll come off eventually.) In attempt to soothe the nervous children, Thalo Child uses his magic to bring up a good memory for each child to experience during the ritual. But as Thalo Child is only a child, he’s caught by his overseer, who removes those memories from the other children all together, leaving Thalo child with the guilt of knowing his kindness led to the loss of their cherished moments. This the readers first view of the abusive tyrant that is Gerome. Next readers once again meet Krona, from The Helm of Midnight. She’s overseeing a punishment for people who broke one of the five gods’s laws. This particular punishment comes from Knowledge, and it is the removal of a hand. Krona watches inside her Regulator armor, all the while knowing that she’s guilty of the exact same crime. She grieves the death of her older sister, and in her free time, she’s attempting to find ways to connect with her. Krona possesses the mask made from her sister’s soul, and though Krona specializes in suppressing the echoes inherent in masks made from the dead, she fails when it comes to her sister’s echo. Krona lets her sister’s echo merge with her own identity, which is dangerous. Finally, readers meet Mandip, a noble. He’s also a twin, which in this world is special. Two of the Five God’s are twins; so, twins are revered. Being a twin and being noble means that Mandip and his brother are also in line to take over rulership of the city/region of Lutador. Mandip, due to his petty nature, sweeps up his cousin’s escort, who just so happens to be Thibaut, a.k.a. Krona’s informant. As they’re jockeying for interpersonal power, Mandip and Thibaut encounter Juliet, a popular opera singer. She invites them to her performance that night for the gathering of nations in Lutador’s rotunda. During Juliet’s show, the First Marquise is murdered, and Krona is framed for it.
The Cage of Dark Hours is a third person point of view novel. It’s fast paced, intriguing, and fun. Where The Helm of Midnight was heavily tilted toward a mystery/investigation story, this is an adventure tale as Krona seeks to clear her name, Mandip learns that the world he thinks he knows is a lie, and Thalo Child simply wants to survive.
The Foundations of Lostetter's Fictional World
Often in fantasy, a society’s myths are left as myths. In The Helm of Midnight, readers learned about Thalo Puppets. They were treated as monsters out of fairy tales. In most other fantasy series, that’s all the explanation needed. Lostetter goes the opposite way. She delves right in to the mystery of the Thalo and gives readers insight into these mythical creatures. Turns out, they’re not creatures at all. They’re human with a very special type of magic. I won’t spoil that secret because Lostetter explores it much better than I ever could. The ramifications of this magic, though, shred the foundations and history of human society in the valley.
Part of the Thalo storyline reads like a conspiracy theory. These elites that run the world behind a secret veil is a fun choice. In the age of Qanon, it struck me as not quite as fun as it would have before 2016. I don’t know what to do with that because I love this story, and I think Lostetter has set it up for an explosive and fantastic finale. But the idea of a secret cabal manipulating everything behind the scenes is a bit off-putting for today’s world. There’s definitely more to ponder here.
Counting Down the Clock
One of the innovative ways Lostetter provides readers with backstory is through multiple timelines. Thalo Child’s story starts three year prior to Krona and Mandip’s. Each successive chapter for Thalo Child moves forward in time so that by the end, the two timelines merge. This provides a lot of needed information about Thalos and their society. It also provides a bit of tension because the countdown reminded me that I was headed towards some sort of crossover event.
Technological Level
Throughout the story, readers catch glimpses of oddities that place the tech level of this society in question. For example, steam trains are being researched and developed. But one character makes a comment about being camera ready. I found these odd references that are either anachronistic or purposely written clues that this is more than just a medieval equivalent fantasy society. We still don’t know what exists beyond the valley. Is this a fallen civilization? One that was walled off from the outer world on purpose and brought to an earlier technological level? Am I obsessing about issues within my ARC copy? Who knows! But I think Lostetter has created an interesting world, and what we learn in The Cage of Dark Hours has me paying attention to every little thing to see if I can catch Thalo manipulation.
Magical Plague
At the beginning of the book, there is an outbreak related to the magic of the masks. It ties into the ending of The Helm of Midnight as well, but it’s quickly dropped. While Lostetter does explain what’s going on, the storyline feels dropped and sort of hand waved away. I don’t think the explanation did enough to rectify why it was happening and what was really causing it. But, as always, this is simply my opinion, and I could be wrong. YMMV.
Mandip
The introduction of two new characters – Thalo Child and Mandip – worked for me. I liked Thalo Child right away. He’s innocent, caring, and sweet. You’ll want to protect him as much as I did. Krona, I still loved from the first book. Here she’s haunted, she’s grieving, and she’s almost broken. Lostetter gives her a chance to find her way back to herself. Mandip took some time to grow on me. He starts out as an annoying noble. He’s entitled; he’s petty; he’s naive and easily manipulated. He seems ambitious in wanting to rule Lutador. Like all rich, he believes that he knows best how to improve society. What saves him is his ability to learn, even if the lesson takes a couple of tries. Mandip really does want to help his fellow humans, and as the toil and strain of adventure wear on him, he rises to the occasion. The same noble who rigs a fencing match later learns the true cost of violence. He could pout and shutdown; in fact, he seems on the verge of it more than once. Yet, he never does. Mandip was a great addition to this novel, and by the end, I found his chapters surprising and more thoughtful than I expected.
Conclusion
Marina Lostetter’s The Cage of Dark Hours is the second book of the Five Penalties trilogy, and it’s a definitive change in gears from The Helm of Midnight. This adventure story explores the roots of Lostetter’s fantastical world and shines a bright light on its secrets. By showing us the mysteries at the heart of Krona’s world, Lostetter has gone where few fantasy series go. In effect, she’s pulling back the curtain to show us the wizard operating the machine. The Cage of Dark Hours cements The Five Penalties trilogy’s place on my must read list. Highly recommended.
The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter builds upon and surpasses the first book in the Five Penalties series. Readers, once again, follow Krona through crimes, through mystery, and through magic. This time, Krona will learn secrets that she isn’t prepared for. Highly recommended.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
Review: The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter
Thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien, the stereotypical impression of fantasy are big books that come in three. Trilogies are the staple of the fantasy genre, and most of the attention is paid either to book one or three. Does the first book take off? If so, will the author end it with a bang? Second books don’t quite get the love that they deserve, and there is an argument to be made for it being more important than the other books. After all, it has to build on the world and story of the first book, develop existing characters while introducing new ones, and grab the reader without overshadowing a potentially amazing finale. The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter does more than this. She doesn’t just build upon the foundation of the first book, she’s dives straight into the mythology and attacks it. This excellent followup to The Helm of Midnight takes the mythological creatures from book one and explores them in a depth and detail that I wasn’t prepared for. The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina Lostetter was not what I was expecting from a second book in a series, but it was exactly what I wanted.
Thalo Child opens the book by being part of a Thalo ritual. He walks with the procession as six year old children are led to altars to place cement on their eyes. (It’ll come off eventually.) In attempt to soothe the nervous children, Thalo Child uses his magic to bring up a good memory for each child to experience during the ritual. But as Thalo Child is only a child, he’s caught by his overseer, who removes those memories from the other children all together, leaving Thalo child with the guilt of knowing his kindness led to the loss of their cherished moments. This the readers first view of the abusive tyrant that is Gerome. Next readers once again meet Krona, from The Helm of Midnight. She’s overseeing a punishment for people who broke one of the five gods’s laws. This particular punishment comes from Knowledge, and it is the removal of a hand. Krona watches inside her Regulator armor, all the while knowing that she’s guilty of the exact same crime. She grieves the death of her older sister, and in her free time, she’s attempting to find ways to connect with her. Krona possesses the mask made from her sister’s soul, and though Krona specializes in suppressing the echoes inherent in masks made from the dead, she fails when it comes to her sister’s echo. Krona lets her sister’s echo merge with her own identity, which is dangerous. Finally, readers meet Mandip, a noble. He’s also a twin, which in this world is special. Two of the Five God’s are twins; so, twins are revered. Being a twin and being noble means that Mandip and his brother are also in line to take over rulership of the city/region of Lutador. Mandip, due to his petty nature, sweeps up his cousin’s escort, who just so happens to be Thibaut, a.k.a. Krona’s informant. As they’re jockeying for interpersonal power, Mandip and Thibaut encounter Juliet, a popular opera singer. She invites them to her performance that night for the gathering of nations in Lutador’s rotunda. During Juliet’s show, the First Marquise is murdered, and Krona is framed for it.
The Cage of Dark Hours is a third person point of view novel. It’s fast paced, intriguing, and fun. Where The Helm of Midnight was heavily tilted toward a mystery/investigation story, this is an adventure tale as Krona seeks to clear her name, Mandip learns that the world he thinks he knows is a lie, and Thalo Child simply wants to survive.
The Foundations of Lostetter's Fictional World
Often in fantasy, a society’s myths are left as myths. In The Helm of Midnight, readers learned about Thalo Puppets. They were treated as monsters out of fairy tales. In most other fantasy series, that’s all the explanation needed. Lostetter goes the opposite way. She delves right in to the mystery of the Thalo and gives readers insight into these mythical creatures. Turns out, they’re not creatures at all. They’re human with a very special type of magic. I won’t spoil that secret because Lostetter explores it much better than I ever could. The ramifications of this magic, though, shred the foundations and history of human society in the valley.
Part of the Thalo storyline reads like a conspiracy theory. These elites that run the world behind a secret veil is a fun choice. In the age of Qanon, it struck me as not quite as fun as it would have before 2016. I don’t know what to do with that because I love this story, and I think Lostetter has set it up for an explosive and fantastic finale. But the idea of a secret cabal manipulating everything behind the scenes is a bit off-putting for today’s world. There’s definitely more to ponder here.
Counting Down the Clock
One of the innovative ways Lostetter provides readers with backstory is through multiple timelines. Thalo Child’s story starts three year prior to Krona and Mandip’s. Each successive chapter for Thalo Child moves forward in time so that by the end, the two timelines merge. This provides a lot of needed information about Thalos and their society. It also provides a bit of tension because the countdown reminded me that I was headed towards some sort of crossover event.
Technological Level
Throughout the story, readers catch glimpses of oddities that place the tech level of this society in question. For example, steam trains are being researched and developed. But one character makes a comment about being camera ready. I found these odd references that are either anachronistic or purposely written clues that this is more than just a medieval equivalent fantasy society. We still don’t know what exists beyond the valley. Is this a fallen civilization? One that was walled off from the outer world on purpose and brought to an earlier technological level? Am I obsessing about issues within my ARC copy? Who knows! But I think Lostetter has created an interesting world, and what we learn in The Cage of Dark Hours has me paying attention to every little thing to see if I can catch Thalo manipulation.
Magical Plague
At the beginning of the book, there is an outbreak related to the magic of the masks. It ties into the ending of The Helm of Midnight as well, but it’s quickly dropped. While Lostetter does explain what’s going on, the storyline feels dropped and sort of hand waved away. I don’t think the explanation did enough to rectify why it was happening and what was really causing it. But, as always, this is simply my opinion, and I could be wrong. YMMV.
Mandip
The introduction of two new characters – Thalo Child and Mandip – worked for me. I liked Thalo Child right away. He’s innocent, caring, and sweet. You’ll want to protect him as much as I did. Krona, I still loved from the first book. Here she’s haunted, she’s grieving, and she’s almost broken. Lostetter gives her a chance to find her way back to herself. Mandip took some time to grow on me. He starts out as an annoying noble. He’s entitled; he’s petty; he’s naive and easily manipulated. He seems ambitious in wanting to rule Lutador. Like all rich, he believes that he knows best how to improve society. What saves him is his ability to learn, even if the lesson takes a couple of tries. Mandip really does want to help his fellow humans, and as the toil and strain of adventure wear on him, he rises to the occasion. The same noble who rigs a fencing match later learns the true cost of violence. He could pout and shutdown; in fact, he seems on the verge of it more than once. Yet, he never does. Mandip was a great addition to this novel, and by the end, I found his chapters surprising and more thoughtful than I expected.
Conclusion
Marina Lostetter’s The Cage of Dark Hours is the second book of the Five Penalties trilogy, and it’s a definitive change in gears from The Helm of Midnight. This adventure story explores the roots of Lostetter’s fantastical world and shines a bright light on its secrets. By showing us the mysteries at the heart of Krona’s world, Lostetter has gone where few fantasy series go. In effect, she’s pulling back the curtain to show us the wizard operating the machine. The Cage of Dark Hours cements The Five Penalties trilogy’s place on my must read list. Highly recommended.
November 18, 2024
Ok so, the ending made the journey in the middle worth it. There were a ton of reveals and chaos and additional questions you were left with. I will still stick by my thoughts that there was a bit of second book syndrome here. The story stalled a bit for me in the middle. Overall, still fully 4 stars.
February 6, 2025
This is a 4/4.5 ⭐️ for me! And it’s the second book of the series and I feel like stronger than the first. Definitely no middle book syndrome here! And thankfully book 3 is coming out in January so I won’t have to wait long for the conclusion of this series.
Book 2 really took things in a different direction and deepened the story and world and magic dramatically from book 1. In book 1, the story focused much more on enchantment and artifacts with a very small dose of introduction to the Thalo. Book 2, brings you into the Thalo keep, hierarchy, and way of life with the perspectives of the Possessors, Thalo Child and Thalo Infant. In the keep, the Thalo children are schooled in the magic of secrets and are charges in cohorts under a Posessor who wields one of several powerful artifacts. Throughout their training, Thalo children are taught to submit to the will of their possessors and they try to earn a name. At the top of the Thalo hierarchy sits the Savior and his right hand is Hintosep, an extremely old and powerful Thalo who has spent millennia serving the will of the Savior. However, Hintosep has made discoveries and starts to plan to subvert the power of the Savior and to do that, she recruits help. Part of her plan is giving a charge (an infant) to Thalo Child and making him responsible for the infant’s care.
Krona is drowning in the grief of her sister’s passing. She is spending her days working as the new Captain of her team of Regulators and the nights dealing for enchantments and immersing herself in the memories of De Lia’s death mask. Mandip Basu is a noble twin with his brother Adhar and they are in line to be appointed to major positions, even becoming the next Grand Marquises. Thibaut ends up being an escort for the night to Mandip and they have a run in with the famous singer and entertainer, La Maupin (Juliet). Juliet invites them both to her performance but Hintosep appears to Krona and warns her that there will be an assassination at the performance. To try and thwart the assassination Krona and the police put nobles on house arrest and double security, but Mandip and Thibaut make it to the performance anyway. Once the First Grand Marquis is killed and Krona is framed, her only recourse is to follow Hintosep and get pulled into her plans. Thibaut, Mandip, Juliet (and eventually Melanie and Sebastian who are alive after having their deaths faked) also join the group.
The group steals a varg, and the Cage of Hours from the Treasury, a powerful artifact that takes a persons will away from them entirely. Hintosep intends to trade the cage to Gerome, her student and now a Possessor in charge of Thalo Child in exchange for Thalo Child, and the stolen varg but Gerome double crosses her and threatens to reveal her stealing a varg to the Savior. Hintosep has confirmed her suspicion that vargs are part of human souls that are rabid and creature like when separated from their hosts during the time tax and she hypothesizes that they can be remerged with their hosts to restore the magic that is stolen from children. The entire Thalo society is essentially harvesting both magic and time from humans. Thalo child is made to bear witness to and be part of mass sacrifices to feed extra time to the Savior and Hintosep knows that every child in the Thalo keep, is actually a child stolen from a family in the Valley. To test her theories, Krona is going to remerge with her varg but has to uncover the ritual that De Lia witnessed by exploring the memories of her sister’s echo. Her and Thibaut also finally admit their feelings for one another and become lovers. Krona does successfully merge with her varg and her magic is restored - she can impact time, jump like her varg and is immune to much of the Thalo’s secret manipulation.
In a final battle, the whole team go to rescue Thalo Child and Thalo Infant. Thalo Child is Juliet’s brother - and they’re actually Louis Charbon’s children. His son who he thought was dead was actually taken by the Thalo. Thalo Infant is Abby - Melanie and Sebastian’s child who was stolen from them and who also possesses nature magic. In a battle with the Savior himself and other Thalo, Hintosep is captured and ultimately punished with the Cage by the Savior, Gerome’s fate is uncertain but he was gravely injured, and the rest escape. But a few final things are clear - the Savior is Absolon. And he has killed other gods to absorb their powers. He has powers over multiple kinds of magic which no one should have. And in addition to the Fallen, the god Emotion is also dead. The gods were made mindless by Absolon and the crew that has survived has their mind crystals, but no plan for what to do with them yet.
This was a whirlwind and I was not expecting where it went! The magic system is very imaginative and new and while it took me a while to get into, I will definitely finish the series.
Book 2 really took things in a different direction and deepened the story and world and magic dramatically from book 1. In book 1, the story focused much more on enchantment and artifacts with a very small dose of introduction to the Thalo. Book 2, brings you into the Thalo keep, hierarchy, and way of life with the perspectives of the Possessors, Thalo Child and Thalo Infant. In the keep, the Thalo children are schooled in the magic of secrets and are charges in cohorts under a Posessor who wields one of several powerful artifacts. Throughout their training, Thalo children are taught to submit to the will of their possessors and they try to earn a name. At the top of the Thalo hierarchy sits the Savior and his right hand is Hintosep, an extremely old and powerful Thalo who has spent millennia serving the will of the Savior. However, Hintosep has made discoveries and starts to plan to subvert the power of the Savior and to do that, she recruits help. Part of her plan is giving a charge (an infant) to Thalo Child and making him responsible for the infant’s care.
Krona is drowning in the grief of her sister’s passing. She is spending her days working as the new Captain of her team of Regulators and the nights dealing for enchantments and immersing herself in the memories of De Lia’s death mask. Mandip Basu is a noble twin with his brother Adhar and they are in line to be appointed to major positions, even becoming the next Grand Marquises. Thibaut ends up being an escort for the night to Mandip and they have a run in with the famous singer and entertainer, La Maupin (Juliet). Juliet invites them both to her performance but Hintosep appears to Krona and warns her that there will be an assassination at the performance. To try and thwart the assassination Krona and the police put nobles on house arrest and double security, but Mandip and Thibaut make it to the performance anyway. Once the First Grand Marquis is killed and Krona is framed, her only recourse is to follow Hintosep and get pulled into her plans. Thibaut, Mandip, Juliet (and eventually Melanie and Sebastian who are alive after having their deaths faked) also join the group.
The group steals a varg, and the Cage of Hours from the Treasury, a powerful artifact that takes a persons will away from them entirely. Hintosep intends to trade the cage to Gerome, her student and now a Possessor in charge of Thalo Child in exchange for Thalo Child, and the stolen varg but Gerome double crosses her and threatens to reveal her stealing a varg to the Savior. Hintosep has confirmed her suspicion that vargs are part of human souls that are rabid and creature like when separated from their hosts during the time tax and she hypothesizes that they can be remerged with their hosts to restore the magic that is stolen from children. The entire Thalo society is essentially harvesting both magic and time from humans. Thalo child is made to bear witness to and be part of mass sacrifices to feed extra time to the Savior and Hintosep knows that every child in the Thalo keep, is actually a child stolen from a family in the Valley. To test her theories, Krona is going to remerge with her varg but has to uncover the ritual that De Lia witnessed by exploring the memories of her sister’s echo. Her and Thibaut also finally admit their feelings for one another and become lovers. Krona does successfully merge with her varg and her magic is restored - she can impact time, jump like her varg and is immune to much of the Thalo’s secret manipulation.
In a final battle, the whole team go to rescue Thalo Child and Thalo Infant. Thalo Child is Juliet’s brother - and they’re actually Louis Charbon’s children. His son who he thought was dead was actually taken by the Thalo. Thalo Infant is Abby - Melanie and Sebastian’s child who was stolen from them and who also possesses nature magic. In a battle with the Savior himself and other Thalo, Hintosep is captured and ultimately punished with the Cage by the Savior, Gerome’s fate is uncertain but he was gravely injured, and the rest escape. But a few final things are clear - the Savior is Absolon. And he has killed other gods to absorb their powers. He has powers over multiple kinds of magic which no one should have. And in addition to the Fallen, the god Emotion is also dead. The gods were made mindless by Absolon and the crew that has survived has their mind crystals, but no plan for what to do with them yet.
This was a whirlwind and I was not expecting where it went! The magic system is very imaginative and new and while it took me a while to get into, I will definitely finish the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2023
3.5 stars
Following the events of The Helm of Darkness, our characters are left in the dark as to what is actually true about the magic in their world. Krona is in mourning, doing anything she can to survive the pain, when she is met by a mysterious figure who seems to know more than anyone else. Meanwhile, a young child tries to survive the horrors of the secret magical cult he's in.
So I wrote a full review of this at least once and it's been deleted every time, so I'll be briefer than usual.
The Helm of Midnight was one of my favorite books of last year, with its interwoven storylines, compelling characters, and mash up of fantasy, horror, and dystopian. Its successor, however, expectedly suffers from not containing the horror plot that made the first one so unique. The pacing in the first half is very slow as the characters don't have a lot going on (versus fighting for their lives in the first book/second half). I would've liked to see more of my favorite characters, who end up having very little screen time in this one. However, I really liked the expansion on the magic and the realities of this world in this installment. We're learning from people who are surrounded by this magic all the time and don't live in the same society as our characters, so the lies that they've been fed are being discovered. That part of the world building was still really unique and fun.
Overall, the first half of this book was a let down, but as it went on, it became more like the book I fell in love with last year. Still continuing on with high hopes for the conclusion!
Following the events of The Helm of Darkness, our characters are left in the dark as to what is actually true about the magic in their world. Krona is in mourning, doing anything she can to survive the pain, when she is met by a mysterious figure who seems to know more than anyone else. Meanwhile, a young child tries to survive the horrors of the secret magical cult he's in.
So I wrote a full review of this at least once and it's been deleted every time, so I'll be briefer than usual.
The Helm of Midnight was one of my favorite books of last year, with its interwoven storylines, compelling characters, and mash up of fantasy, horror, and dystopian. Its successor, however, expectedly suffers from not containing the horror plot that made the first one so unique. The pacing in the first half is very slow as the characters don't have a lot going on (versus fighting for their lives in the first book/second half). I would've liked to see more of my favorite characters, who end up having very little screen time in this one. However, I really liked the expansion on the magic and the realities of this world in this installment. We're learning from people who are surrounded by this magic all the time and don't live in the same society as our characters, so the lies that they've been fed are being discovered. That part of the world building was still really unique and fun.
Overall, the first half of this book was a let down, but as it went on, it became more like the book I fell in love with last year. Still continuing on with high hopes for the conclusion!
June 7, 2023
Full review: https://scepticalreading.com/2023/05/...
A middle book that doesn’t suffer from Middle Book Syndrome is rare. The Cage of Dark Hours is such a book. Since most of the world-building happened in The Helm of Midnight, Lostetter now concentrates on a mystery/adventure about the secrets that made this world tick the way it’s ticking and hints at what might be resolved in the third book (Re: magical plague, hints at technological advancements).
The book is fast-paced and due to the dual timeline, its thriller-like plot, and twists and secrets not being too obvious, makes for a hard to put down read.
A middle book that doesn’t suffer from Middle Book Syndrome is rare. The Cage of Dark Hours is such a book. Since most of the world-building happened in The Helm of Midnight, Lostetter now concentrates on a mystery/adventure about the secrets that made this world tick the way it’s ticking and hints at what might be resolved in the third book (Re: magical plague, hints at technological advancements).
The book is fast-paced and due to the dual timeline, its thriller-like plot, and twists and secrets not being too obvious, makes for a hard to put down read.
February 16, 2025
2/15/25 re-read: yo, like I knew I forgot a lot of this but DAMN I forgot a LOT of this. Like the full final third is so jam packed with lore and reveals. I'll definitely be coming back to re-read and do a deep dive.
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This gave me more than I wished for or expected in a sequel.
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This gave me more than I wished for or expected in a sequel.
February 26, 2023
Super underrated series thou I think I'm more of a fan of book 1
August 6, 2024
hintosep we should get married.
note: the sapphic rep isn't a central sapphic romance but there's still sapphic characters (and other queer characters) so i added it to my sapphic shelves.
note: the sapphic rep isn't a central sapphic romance but there's still sapphic characters (and other queer characters) so i added it to my sapphic shelves.
March 8, 2023
Shut your ass up
July 10, 2023
So I absolutely adore Helm of Midnight but this one just didn’t do it for me. I really liked all the world building that was done especially in terms of the Thalo but the characters fell kinda flat and it lost some of the intimacy that Helm of Midnight had. Overall I did still enjoy the book and would love to see where the series goes from here. 4/5 stars
August 17, 2025
This book went in quite a different direction than book one. At first, I considered lowering my rating to reflect that change since I did like the murder mystery arc better, but after some thought I still think its worth a low five stars. It's different, it's certainly not bad. What this story is doing in terms of world building is unlike anything else I've ever read, and I'm a sucker for unique stories.
While Krona remains our 'main' character, this installment adds two new perspectives to follow. I really enjoyed both of their respective storylines, even if one took a little while to grow on me. The plot mostly focuses on the characters realizing everything they know about their world is a lie. We get glimpses of some super interesting lore, and I hope there are some satisfying answers in book three (the low ratings have me a bit worried).
As of right now, I think this series is criminally underrated. Only 600 ratings for a book of this quality is whack.
While Krona remains our 'main' character, this installment adds two new perspectives to follow. I really enjoyed both of their respective storylines, even if one took a little while to grow on me. The plot mostly focuses on the characters realizing everything they know about their world is a lie. We get glimpses of some super interesting lore, and I hope there are some satisfying answers in book three (the low ratings have me a bit worried).
As of right now, I think this series is criminally underrated. Only 600 ratings for a book of this quality is whack.
July 16, 2023
What a wonderful way to further develop this series. I loved my every moment with this book. Superb.
April 29, 2025
Book 2/3 in The Five Penalties adult sci-fantasy trilogy by Marina J. Lostetter - this book may have radicalized me, oddly enough, for its great potential and for its utter commitment to executing interesting ideas in the least interesting ways. Especially in how it seems to know how to be a fantasy novel, but then takes it too far and becomes AWARE it is a Fantasy Novel with a Magic System that must be explained, solved to solve the mystery of the world, and then explained some more. It kills me in how unimaginative that is because it throws away all potential and need for exploring how the fantasy-ness affects the characters, their society, and their culture, and turns all of the characters into typical, uncomplicated, homogenous, self-aware protags instead of staying true to their personalities and their roles in their society. I am clawing my face off as we speak. Again though - the ideas are good. Also, Mandip and Juliet were a riot, and for many reasons related to what I just listed, were underutilized. 3/5
Trigger warnings for child abuse, graphic violence against infants, injuries to children and infants, body horror, violence and gore, and torture.
I can't even say that "this series isn't for me" because I think this series WOULD be absolutely for me if it was executed with what I think should've been more seriousness and more care. It feels odd to call a book that graphically tortures and disfigures babies on the page as "not being serious," but it's partly the leftover reassuring, gentle tone of book 1, partly the lack of serious conflict between any of the characters except with the main villain, partly the extreme hand-holding the author does with respect to every single emotion the characters have and every single turn in the plot, partly the halfhearted and ultimately casual attempts at political or societal complexity that are brief and mostly frictionless, partly the puzzle box approach to fantasy the writing takes such that the world becomes smaller, less mysterious, and less interesting the more it's explained to us. The lack of moral and political complexity, the insistence that our heroes be uncomplicated heroes, and the hand-holding all serve to make this worldbuilding-ridden novel feel, against all odds, unchallenging and generic at its core.
I mean, in the first place, I'm not sure about the choice to have the sequel to a fantasy thriller/murder mystery be neither of those things. Horror elements remain, mainly in the body horror aspect, but I didn't fear for the characters much in this book except for Thalo Child, and I think it does the overall aim of this series a disservice to strip away the murder mystery, or fantasy crime in general, as a framing device. Even though there were missing babies - presumably 1 in every 5 children born in the Valley unless we were told otherwise? - Krona explicitly states that she basically doesn't have time for that for most of the book where she even is still a Regulator. It's just one plot thread that gets somewhat lost in all the other threads. She goes to head off the assassination plot instead, which is a crime that has not yet been committed and isn't exactly a mystery either.
I have to go through what I liked first so that I'm not 100% negative here, because like with book 1, I definitely enjoyed parts. Mandip and Juliet are now my favorite characters. Mandip was hilarious, I cared about his relationships with his family, the worldbuilding details about twins was very interesting, many of his lines were actually funny, and his put-upon nature combined with his good heart were endearing. The brief attempt at putting him in his place as a member of the bourgeoisie was a disservice to his character and I was disappointed that he just goes along with it, probably because the author was anxious to keep this character in our good graces, again pointing to the lack of conflict and societal/political complexity here in spite of the many worldbuilding details given to us. I was also disappointed that his watch ended up just being a detail, not even really a macguffin, because I was looking forward to an entire plotline about the city Treasury and how the finances worked, lol. It ended up just being a very vague and hard-to-follow heist - that the author is careful to reassure us has nothing to do with people's time vials, which could have added moral complexity to this story, but alas - that plays out over a couple chapters.
I also thought Mandip and Thibault were an absolute riot as a pair. I genuinely enjoyed every minute they were on the page together. Which actually resulted in me being outright disappointed and annoyed that Mandip is quickly thrust out of this limelight after the 50% mark, and that the author quickly gets Krona and Thibault together for no particular reason, instantly making me less interested in Thibault and completely uninterested in their relationship, lol. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot from a writing perspective maybe?
I thought Juliet was a lot of fun and I was very interested in how old she was as well and what that means for her society and her connection to the Thalo. She was funny and kind of disturbing in that way. Also, the concept of a talented musician who's lived hundreds of years is just really interesting. I loved her in the Mandip-Thibault-Juliet trio, and I was honestly rooting for a nasty throuple, lol. But quite frankly, in spite of appearances, this series is not that daring, and Juliet is relegated to a somewhat squishy action girl role at the fringes of others' POVs by the end of the novel. Hers was definitely a case where I kept thinking to myself, Why do all fantasy protags have to be given a weapon or even "powers" used as a weapon to be useful? Aren't there more interesting plotlines that could be written here?
This might just be me missing the point at the end of book 1, but something I liked about book 2 was the gradual realization that the Thalo aren't nonhuman fantasy creatures or constructs, but rather, just brainwashed humans. While I don't like that the characters didn't react very strongly to this realization in my opinion, given the strict and regulated rules and expectations that the Valley lives under (no one is horrified that Hintosep and Thalo Child are completely tattooed for example), I did like that this was probably the one and possibly the one and only story revelation that wasn't beaten to death by the writing, and was instead something the reader was allowed to put together with the infants being at the keep early on.
I really enjoyed Thalo Child and the tension in his relationships at the keep, especially his lack of power and inability to self-determine due to the cult and the abuses he suffers at Gerome and Hintosep's hands. I also thought it was a good choice to have him "rebel" like a teenager once he grows up a little. It felt very true to a character like him. I liked how strange and drowned in a fantasy culture with occult practices the first half of the book in his POV felt. It made me want to read more and more about his story and about him and Gerome in particular. Gerome was a great villain, and I was disappointed that Lostetter pulled the same thing she did in book 1 where she introduces a very scary villain - and Gerome was better than any antagonist in book 1 - and then supplants that villain with a more powerful "worse" one, who is only worse in that he is more black-and-white evil and overall less interesting. The Savior doesn't interest me in the slightest, but Gerome was fascinating. Though I was disappointed that Thalo Child felt nothing for his "death" given how messy and complex a child's relationship to an abusive parent often is.
After my reticence around the introduction of the Thalo "puppets" in book 1 and how I didn't feel like they fit in with the world or the story, I came around to them in book 2 and ended up really liking Hintosep. With my above criticisms of how overall simple the characters are, Hintosep is the one exception in that most of the characters appreciate her, but don't like her, because her methods are morally questionable. However, she is still a hero. I'm glad Hintosep was who she was in this book because there is pretty much no one like her. The only other character with much complexity at all is Krona, and the gap between Krona and Hintosep is pretty wide tbh. Krona's one moment that really stood out to me in this book is the scene where she attempts to strand Hintosep. It was one of the very few moments of real conflict between characters in this book, with the runnerup moment being Krona chaining Thibault and Mandip in the cellar (this was actually the scene that made me decide that Krona is at her most interesting when she's seen through other POVs as an antagonistic force, not in her own POV as a protagonist). These moments where Krona runs contrary to other characters when she's trying to be conservative and do what is expected of her re: civic duty are by far the strongest and most defining moments for her character, because even when she's fighting hard, like against the varg for example, that's just what you would expect any self-respecting fantasy protagonist to do. But Krona's moments of resistance are actually moments that reveal her for her conservative character and that show that most of her desires and efforts contribute to maintaining the status quo (it's interesting (frustrating) that most of Thibault's grandstanding about societal inequality are directed at Mandip and not Krona imo), including the assumption that everyone should return the gods to their previous states, and including Krona's attempts to resurrect De-Lia. Whereas Hintosep's moments of resistance reveal her to be a true anarchist and wild card. So Krona and Hintosep are most interesting together. Also Hintosep has a cool name, so there's that.
Now I'll get more directly into my dislikes. The writing was choppy again in the first third, but save for some truly egregious examples of overexplaining emotions and plot twists, most of the rest of the book was fine. The thesaurus from book 1 is not here in book 2. The dialogue isn't as uncomfortable. However, overall, I don't find the prose to be good or bad, just serviceable, if not terribly evocative.
Krona and Thibault's romance fell flat for me. They were intriguing in book 1 because of the forbidden aspect of a cop and a criminal trusting and loving each other. I'm guessing the main impetus behind their relationship is the author gender-bending the cop and criminal femme fatale trope. However, I always felt like Lostetter relied too much on describing how in lust they were with each other to give the reader reasons to want them together. This is made all the more baffling with the introduction of Mandip in book 2, who is funny and has naturally great chemistry and push and pull with Thibault. They spend literally half of book 2 together and are really fun the entire time. I also felt like Thibault was his own person for the first time in the series when he was alone with Mandip and Juliet. But as soon as he and Krona are reunited, Thibault's personality and personal goals and desires all disappear, and it's like all he cares and thinks about is Krona, but I no longer know why he loves her so much, or vice versa. So it's unfortunate that Mandip is shuffled out of being an important plot driver and/or passenger at the exact moment that Lostetter throws Thibault and Krona together with no real impetus. Thibault just has the jewelry on him for no reason from the start. I wasn't convinced that Krona and Thibault were interesting together - rather, I felt like Lostetter assumed that we would want them together.
Something about this series' various worldbuilding elements never quite gelled for me. A lot of reviewers have said that Lostetter explains the magic very well, but I never felt like I grasped it at all. I understood mask magic very well in book 1, though most of that seems irrelevant now, or just translated into other aspects of the world, in book 2. But for contrast, I couldn't for the life of me explain why Krona has so many different abilities as a jumper, why she couldn't use her actual jumping abilities in the hand-to-hand fight at the end, what the veil of darkness was at the end and who cast it, what any of this has to do with the elements like sand and wood, and more. There is just too much here for a trilogy to get a good hold on. Especially with so many chapters just being fun character interactions, flashbacks, or other sequences that don't attempt to sew the worldbuilding into the story. There's just too much space in between when worldbuilding is explained and when that worldbuilding is important, without characters or themes persisting underlying rules to the world and their effects on society enough to give me a solid grasp on all of it. Even the pentagram explaining the magic - which is so blatantly Sanderson-esque I giggled - doesn't help a whole bunch because all of the related aspects of magic just seem like completely different concepts from each other to me.
The pacing is odd in book 2 because the first half is all buildup to the assassination, buildup that is mostly Krona grieving, and Thibault and Mandip having adventures with Juliet. There is no dark underbelly to the plot besides the missing babies case, which is just a plot thread that's hinted at rather than something that Krona tackles wholeheartedly. Her Regulator career is surprisingly understated despite her now being captain (and how did that happen?). Maybe the author felt uncomfortable with writing a cop character suddenly? I did think it was strange that Krona is suddenly, like, so aware of social inequality and her place in it compared to the previous book.
[review to be continued]
The result is that this novel falls into a category that countless others belong to - gather a group of eccentric characters with different abilities, they all become friends and have mostly the same ideas and outlooks on the world, and they band together to "do a revolution" that mostly consists of them calling out systemic unfairness in their society in dialogue, and then defeating 1 bad guy and his goons. There is nothing wrong with this plot, but the way The Five Penalties is pitched starting with book 1 set up expectations that it would be something different, something more, something more SPECIFIC even. And while the set dressing is A Lot, worldbuilding wise, magic rules wise, etc., the underpinnings are what I just described, strangely lighthearted and quite simple and generic. The murder mystery and the mystery of the disappeared children are an afterthought now, just a lead-in to this typical puzzle box fantasy story design. Krona no longer needs to be a Regulator even though she's called one, Juliet is no longer a singer, Thibault is not a thief or an escort, Mandip is not a politician, and presumably Avellino doesn't need to be an abused child cultist anymore now that he's joined The Gang - everyone is the same now and is playing roughly the same role as part of a magical party of people, fighters and a self-described revolutionaries, everyone is homogenous and similar-doing and similar-thinking. It's uninteresting and generic when book 1 had the potential of taking the series in its own novel direction according to the tone, specific roles and beliefs of the characters, and the air of mystery and fear created by the magic system and the Thalo.
Trigger warnings for child abuse, graphic violence against infants, injuries to children and infants, body horror, violence and gore, and torture.
I can't even say that "this series isn't for me" because I think this series WOULD be absolutely for me if it was executed with what I think should've been more seriousness and more care. It feels odd to call a book that graphically tortures and disfigures babies on the page as "not being serious," but it's partly the leftover reassuring, gentle tone of book 1, partly the lack of serious conflict between any of the characters except with the main villain, partly the extreme hand-holding the author does with respect to every single emotion the characters have and every single turn in the plot, partly the halfhearted and ultimately casual attempts at political or societal complexity that are brief and mostly frictionless, partly the puzzle box approach to fantasy the writing takes such that the world becomes smaller, less mysterious, and less interesting the more it's explained to us. The lack of moral and political complexity, the insistence that our heroes be uncomplicated heroes, and the hand-holding all serve to make this worldbuilding-ridden novel feel, against all odds, unchallenging and generic at its core.
I mean, in the first place, I'm not sure about the choice to have the sequel to a fantasy thriller/murder mystery be neither of those things. Horror elements remain, mainly in the body horror aspect, but I didn't fear for the characters much in this book except for Thalo Child, and I think it does the overall aim of this series a disservice to strip away the murder mystery, or fantasy crime in general, as a framing device. Even though there were missing babies - presumably 1 in every 5 children born in the Valley unless we were told otherwise? - Krona explicitly states that she basically doesn't have time for that for most of the book where she even is still a Regulator. It's just one plot thread that gets somewhat lost in all the other threads. She goes to head off the assassination plot instead, which is a crime that has not yet been committed and isn't exactly a mystery either.
I have to go through what I liked first so that I'm not 100% negative here, because like with book 1, I definitely enjoyed parts. Mandip and Juliet are now my favorite characters. Mandip was hilarious, I cared about his relationships with his family, the worldbuilding details about twins was very interesting, many of his lines were actually funny, and his put-upon nature combined with his good heart were endearing. The brief attempt at putting him in his place as a member of the bourgeoisie was a disservice to his character and I was disappointed that he just goes along with it, probably because the author was anxious to keep this character in our good graces, again pointing to the lack of conflict and societal/political complexity here in spite of the many worldbuilding details given to us. I was also disappointed that his watch ended up just being a detail, not even really a macguffin, because I was looking forward to an entire plotline about the city Treasury and how the finances worked, lol. It ended up just being a very vague and hard-to-follow heist - that the author is careful to reassure us has nothing to do with people's time vials, which could have added moral complexity to this story, but alas - that plays out over a couple chapters.
I also thought Mandip and Thibault were an absolute riot as a pair. I genuinely enjoyed every minute they were on the page together. Which actually resulted in me being outright disappointed and annoyed that Mandip is quickly thrust out of this limelight after the 50% mark, and that the author quickly gets Krona and Thibault together for no particular reason, instantly making me less interested in Thibault and completely uninterested in their relationship, lol. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot from a writing perspective maybe?
I thought Juliet was a lot of fun and I was very interested in how old she was as well and what that means for her society and her connection to the Thalo. She was funny and kind of disturbing in that way. Also, the concept of a talented musician who's lived hundreds of years is just really interesting. I loved her in the Mandip-Thibault-Juliet trio, and I was honestly rooting for a nasty throuple, lol. But quite frankly, in spite of appearances, this series is not that daring, and Juliet is relegated to a somewhat squishy action girl role at the fringes of others' POVs by the end of the novel. Hers was definitely a case where I kept thinking to myself, Why do all fantasy protags have to be given a weapon or even "powers" used as a weapon to be useful? Aren't there more interesting plotlines that could be written here?
This might just be me missing the point at the end of book 1, but something I liked about book 2 was the gradual realization that the Thalo aren't nonhuman fantasy creatures or constructs, but rather, just brainwashed humans. While I don't like that the characters didn't react very strongly to this realization in my opinion, given the strict and regulated rules and expectations that the Valley lives under (no one is horrified that Hintosep and Thalo Child are completely tattooed for example), I did like that this was probably the one and possibly the one and only story revelation that wasn't beaten to death by the writing, and was instead something the reader was allowed to put together with the infants being at the keep early on.
I really enjoyed Thalo Child and the tension in his relationships at the keep, especially his lack of power and inability to self-determine due to the cult and the abuses he suffers at Gerome and Hintosep's hands. I also thought it was a good choice to have him "rebel" like a teenager once he grows up a little. It felt very true to a character like him. I liked how strange and drowned in a fantasy culture with occult practices the first half of the book in his POV felt. It made me want to read more and more about his story and about him and Gerome in particular. Gerome was a great villain, and I was disappointed that Lostetter pulled the same thing she did in book 1 where she introduces a very scary villain - and Gerome was better than any antagonist in book 1 - and then supplants that villain with a more powerful "worse" one, who is only worse in that he is more black-and-white evil and overall less interesting. The Savior doesn't interest me in the slightest, but Gerome was fascinating. Though I was disappointed that Thalo Child felt nothing for his "death" given how messy and complex a child's relationship to an abusive parent often is.
After my reticence around the introduction of the Thalo "puppets" in book 1 and how I didn't feel like they fit in with the world or the story, I came around to them in book 2 and ended up really liking Hintosep. With my above criticisms of how overall simple the characters are, Hintosep is the one exception in that most of the characters appreciate her, but don't like her, because her methods are morally questionable. However, she is still a hero. I'm glad Hintosep was who she was in this book because there is pretty much no one like her. The only other character with much complexity at all is Krona, and the gap between Krona and Hintosep is pretty wide tbh. Krona's one moment that really stood out to me in this book is the scene where she attempts to strand Hintosep. It was one of the very few moments of real conflict between characters in this book, with the runnerup moment being Krona chaining Thibault and Mandip in the cellar (this was actually the scene that made me decide that Krona is at her most interesting when she's seen through other POVs as an antagonistic force, not in her own POV as a protagonist). These moments where Krona runs contrary to other characters when she's trying to be conservative and do what is expected of her re: civic duty are by far the strongest and most defining moments for her character, because even when she's fighting hard, like against the varg for example, that's just what you would expect any self-respecting fantasy protagonist to do. But Krona's moments of resistance are actually moments that reveal her for her conservative character and that show that most of her desires and efforts contribute to maintaining the status quo (it's interesting (frustrating) that most of Thibault's grandstanding about societal inequality are directed at Mandip and not Krona imo), including the assumption that everyone should return the gods to their previous states, and including Krona's attempts to resurrect De-Lia. Whereas Hintosep's moments of resistance reveal her to be a true anarchist and wild card. So Krona and Hintosep are most interesting together. Also Hintosep has a cool name, so there's that.
Now I'll get more directly into my dislikes. The writing was choppy again in the first third, but save for some truly egregious examples of overexplaining emotions and plot twists, most of the rest of the book was fine. The thesaurus from book 1 is not here in book 2. The dialogue isn't as uncomfortable. However, overall, I don't find the prose to be good or bad, just serviceable, if not terribly evocative.
Krona and Thibault's romance fell flat for me. They were intriguing in book 1 because of the forbidden aspect of a cop and a criminal trusting and loving each other. I'm guessing the main impetus behind their relationship is the author gender-bending the cop and criminal femme fatale trope. However, I always felt like Lostetter relied too much on describing how in lust they were with each other to give the reader reasons to want them together. This is made all the more baffling with the introduction of Mandip in book 2, who is funny and has naturally great chemistry and push and pull with Thibault. They spend literally half of book 2 together and are really fun the entire time. I also felt like Thibault was his own person for the first time in the series when he was alone with Mandip and Juliet. But as soon as he and Krona are reunited, Thibault's personality and personal goals and desires all disappear, and it's like all he cares and thinks about is Krona, but I no longer know why he loves her so much, or vice versa. So it's unfortunate that Mandip is shuffled out of being an important plot driver and/or passenger at the exact moment that Lostetter throws Thibault and Krona together with no real impetus. Thibault just has the jewelry on him for no reason from the start. I wasn't convinced that Krona and Thibault were interesting together - rather, I felt like Lostetter assumed that we would want them together.
Something about this series' various worldbuilding elements never quite gelled for me. A lot of reviewers have said that Lostetter explains the magic very well, but I never felt like I grasped it at all. I understood mask magic very well in book 1, though most of that seems irrelevant now, or just translated into other aspects of the world, in book 2. But for contrast, I couldn't for the life of me explain why Krona has so many different abilities as a jumper, why she couldn't use her actual jumping abilities in the hand-to-hand fight at the end, what the veil of darkness was at the end and who cast it, what any of this has to do with the elements like sand and wood, and more. There is just too much here for a trilogy to get a good hold on. Especially with so many chapters just being fun character interactions, flashbacks, or other sequences that don't attempt to sew the worldbuilding into the story. There's just too much space in between when worldbuilding is explained and when that worldbuilding is important, without characters or themes persisting underlying rules to the world and their effects on society enough to give me a solid grasp on all of it. Even the pentagram explaining the magic - which is so blatantly Sanderson-esque I giggled - doesn't help a whole bunch because all of the related aspects of magic just seem like completely different concepts from each other to me.
The pacing is odd in book 2 because the first half is all buildup to the assassination, buildup that is mostly Krona grieving, and Thibault and Mandip having adventures with Juliet. There is no dark underbelly to the plot besides the missing babies case, which is just a plot thread that's hinted at rather than something that Krona tackles wholeheartedly. Her Regulator career is surprisingly understated despite her now being captain (and how did that happen?). Maybe the author felt uncomfortable with writing a cop character suddenly? I did think it was strange that Krona is suddenly, like, so aware of social inequality and her place in it compared to the previous book.
[review to be continued]
The result is that this novel falls into a category that countless others belong to - gather a group of eccentric characters with different abilities, they all become friends and have mostly the same ideas and outlooks on the world, and they band together to "do a revolution" that mostly consists of them calling out systemic unfairness in their society in dialogue, and then defeating 1 bad guy and his goons. There is nothing wrong with this plot, but the way The Five Penalties is pitched starting with book 1 set up expectations that it would be something different, something more, something more SPECIFIC even. And while the set dressing is A Lot, worldbuilding wise, magic rules wise, etc., the underpinnings are what I just described, strangely lighthearted and quite simple and generic. The murder mystery and the mystery of the disappeared children are an afterthought now, just a lead-in to this typical puzzle box fantasy story design. Krona no longer needs to be a Regulator even though she's called one, Juliet is no longer a singer, Thibault is not a thief or an escort, Mandip is not a politician, and presumably Avellino doesn't need to be an abused child cultist anymore now that he's joined The Gang - everyone is the same now and is playing roughly the same role as part of a magical party of people, fighters and a self-described revolutionaries, everyone is homogenous and similar-doing and similar-thinking. It's uninteresting and generic when book 1 had the potential of taking the series in its own novel direction according to the tone, specific roles and beliefs of the characters, and the air of mystery and fear created by the magic system and the Thalo.
November 27, 2025
how am i supposed to be ok until the next one?!?
January 31, 2025
The Cage of Dark Hours faces a tough challenge following Helm of Midnight, and unfortunately, it doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor. The eerie, dark atmosphere that defined the first book feels diluted in the sequel. While the story begins with an intriguing mysterious event, it quickly gets sidelined in favor of extensive worldbuilding and character development. However, I struggled to connect with the new characters, and their growth didn’t feel as compelling. It seems that, as the scope of the story expanded, the author may have become overwhelmed by the endless possibilities of the world she created, losing sight of what made the first book so engaging.
February 11, 2025
This series is SO GOOD! One of the golden few fantasy series that doesn’t hit a lull at the halfway point, this book is all gas no freaking brakes!! The characters are written so excruciatingly well that any potential harm that came their way had me in a panic. Women write the best fantasy!!!!!!!!!
February 22, 2023
Writing spoiler-free reviews for sequels is always difficult. The Helm of Midnight was an immersive fantasy book, and The Cage of Dark Hours continued onto that world. It continued the storyline of Midnight, but in a completely new place, and added some new characters.
I thought I loved the first book. Wow. I wanted more of the world of The Five Penalties, and I definitely got it. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a trilogy or more, but I hope it keeps going. There’s so much to explore.
And the twists keep coming. Usually I’m pretty good at predicting twists, but I was so into this book, I was shocked many times. I am very excited to see where we go next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the chance to read this advanced review copy.
CW for blood, gore, injury, death, grief, murder, mass murder, kidnapping, child abuse, and torture
I thought I loved the first book. Wow. I wanted more of the world of The Five Penalties, and I definitely got it. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a trilogy or more, but I hope it keeps going. There’s so much to explore.
And the twists keep coming. Usually I’m pretty good at predicting twists, but I was so into this book, I was shocked many times. I am very excited to see where we go next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the chance to read this advanced review copy.
CW for blood, gore, injury, death, grief, murder, mass murder, kidnapping, child abuse, and torture
April 18, 2023
great sequel. looking forward to book 3!
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