This was an enjoyable sequel to Ascendent, it was structured differently to the first book which gave the series some added freshness with this entry

This book follows multiple POVs and I appreciated this, I really enjoyed all the characters in book 1 so I think it was of benefit that more time was allocated to them. Each POV is relatively different and they are all facing their own battles and hurdles all whilst trying to reach an overall common goal. It also follows the villain POV and I feel like more books should have this as after all, they are important to the story

This is quite a lengthy book, hitting around the 650 page mark, and you could sometimes feel it. The plot wasn't always kept up to speed as it was in comparison to book 1 but there was more of a focus on character development and world building as an almost sacrifice. I did find myself losing my excitement for the story in some places but these sections didn't last all that long thankfully

The dragons are just great in this world, Ash again has such a stand out personality and is definitely the star of the show, this is how you write an animal companion. It's also unusual genre wise, this is epic fantasy but YA, I'm not sure if I've ever read anything quite like it but I am here for it. It's such an easy and enjoyable read all whilst having elements of epic fantasy, aka, you don't have to use your brain all that much but you still grasp the scope of the story

Unbound builds on Ascendant in a number of ways instead of just being a stale sequel, they both work well together so I am looking forward to seeing what Defiant brings to the Songs of Chaos world