This is a wonderful book, but I don’t feel like I need to read the second. I rather like the open ending.

I like the battle within Taresi and how she spends the whole novel questioning her worth. It makes her seem genuine, and very relatable. Her relationship with all her council is moving and the writing made me have a lot of feels throughout. I could visualize everything, because the writing was so powerfully painted.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, coming of age tales, magic, and the concept of choosing ones own family.

I do think that I might be a bit burned out on this book type. Just like I’m over the plot lines of “a queen who didn’t know she had magic and is now magic and will say her kingdom from corruption!” - I’m kind of feeling that way about the “African inspired cultures with magic and a young woman coming into her own” style as well. This doesn’t mean that I don’t think they are good/important books - it means I am feeling the market is a bit saturated right now. For example I read “A song of Wraiths and Ruin” not that long ago, and my brain started combining the two books. All that being said, I wish that wasn’t the case because this book was better and deserves its own spotlight.