Samantha Shannon I love your brain!!!! I have been eagerly awaiting this copy from the library, it was on order for forever, and once I started if I wasn’t actively reading, I could not stop thinking about this story. I am sitting here reeling over the implications of the final pages, and I am so glad the next book is in transit to me because I need to know what happens right now!!

Corruption upon corruption upon corruption. 

I went into this book understanding Shannon’s writing style, so it didn’t bother me as much as it did in the first book. 

Let me tell you - yall want SLOW burn? A romance than burns so slowly you want to spoon our own eyes out??? This is the series for you. It’s frustrating as hell but so satisfying. 

I wasn’t sure I’d continue with the series after book one, but the politics entranced me in book two. And of course, soft-spoken Warden <3 the banter between these two is so hilarious to me. And I absolutely love his little sayings to her. Yall want yearning?? Yall want slow burn???? Shannon gives you both in this story. 

even tho this was equally chonky as book 1, i found this to be a much faster read bc of the setting change and getting quite acquainted with the world in the previous book.

there was a faster pace to the actions as well, and i found myself very drawn in and intrigued by the mime crime rings and the underground world of the voyants in london.

i felt like this had very real challenges and downfalls this part of the story would lead to. there were some small twists and turns that i found surprising and interesting. in general, i think the worldbuilding of voyants and mimes is really what makes this series for me. it would be so cool to see how voyants are in "free worlds".

ARCTURUS MESARTHIM. YOU ARE EVERYTHING.

anyone who loves a good slowburn is going to die and wither away from the slow boil tension between him and paige. i love a mmc who recognizes a queen when he gets one

i wasn't really as devastated by the end as i expected to be, but i'm not gonna lie i am scared for what might be coming in the next two books 😅

In this sequel to The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon shows a tangible improvement in the quality of her writing. Page's story opens up to the world of Scion London, giving the reader a vivid and compelling backdrop for the narrative. Shannon's worldbuilding is stronger in this novel than her first, and her characters remain excellent, although they don't develop a huge amount between the end of The Bone Season and the end of this book, with some even regressing a little.

Elements of the writing remain knotted - a couple of dialogue passages I had to read several times to be sure that I understood what the characters were implying to one another, which detracted from the pace of the writing. The plot is also a little lopsided, building up to a cliffhanger which is very easily predictable and therefore not very effective at all. It feels a little haphazard, as though Paige simply lurches from event to event rather than there being a strong arc with very little strategy for a long time. The story doesn't truly get going until the final section of the book, which is a little long to wait, especially when this is already a sequel. 

However, there is an evident maturation of Shannon's world and her way of representing it. The politics of the syndicate are fascinating; fight scenes are written very, very well; it was fabulous to get to know the Dials better. Subplots were very compelling, and laid the foundations for some really exciting things later in the series. Despite its flaws, I really love this series. I think it's a fascinating world, an excellent concept, and a story that is truly epic - albeit with some faltering in the telling.