Emily
Rebecca's ability to manufacture tension for her two main love interests is genuinely unrivaled. Getting your endgame two together in book one of five is a bold move, and one I was a little concerned about, but she's out here pulling it off. The tension/arguments in this book got a little repetitive by the end, but neither of them was really budging much so I get it.
I loved teenage Andarna, I wish we had seen a bit more of her in this book. Tairn and Sgaeyl were amazing, as always. The banter was beautiful, the spice was fantastic.
I had some mild complaints of Violet not piecing things together sooner, but as I thought about it more I realized how distracted/distressed she was through this entire book, and it seems more realistic that she wouldn't have put things together as quickly.
loved it. can't wait to obsess over everything and theorize about Violet's second signet until book 3.
3 stars. the tea magic was really interesting, the political intrigue was good, the characters were fine, the romance wasn't great - this probably won't be a book I think about for years to come. I'll likely finish the duology just to know what happens.
idk if I've just been on too much of a NA/romantasy kick to appreciate this book or what. I really wanted to love it and just ended up liking it (which is still good! just not a 5 start sort of book, and not what I would have predicted for myself)
this was so much better than the first book. first book was fine, this one was a masterpiece.
I fell in love with every single character. the last 80 pages of the book had my eyes filling with tears, over and over again, for the horror, the bloodshed, the hopelessness, and ultimately, the overpowering love of it all.
that is how you write romantic fantasy.
