I could not put this down. I'd originally heard of this series while I was reading Gender Queer, and I'm always looking for more queer books to read so I bought them with zero hesitation. And it was money well spent.

The majority of this book was just processing emotions, but I felt like it was necessary for both the character development and the plot. Vanyel's progress in this was all over the place, but I enjoyed reading every word of it - even as I was violently sobbing. That poor boy has been through so much, and I felt as if I was the one experiencing his emotions. Maybe that's just me being extremely empathetic, or maybe it's the way the author writes and the language she uses to make you feel what she wants you to feel. Either way, this book broke my heart and rebuilt it several times.

The way Mercedes Lackey writes truly is magic. Her writing just grabs a hold of you and does not let go. If she writes it, I'm going to read it.