This series continues to impress me with its complex character relationships. Despite the high physical stakes and all the action, the truest tension in this book is consistently centered around character conflicts. Each character seems to have goals and motivations that conflict with both each other and themselves, giving rise to complicated relationships. This book continues to keep relationships dynamic, while also doing a great job of developing characters by forcing them to peel back their layers until they confront their deeper fears, regrets, and insecurities. If I have one complaint, it’s that there might be a touch too much romantic plot for my own personal tastes, but I’d say that it’s still handled well overall.

This book is also very strong in how it functions as a part of the larger series. You can really tell how things are ramping up and will be coming to a head soon—mysteries mentioned in previous books without much attention are continued here, where more light is shed on some of these worldbuilding secrets. At the same time, many of these secrets are answered in ways that just cause more questions in a way that I think will really energize the next book. Especially given the stinger at the end of the book, I’m so excited to continue reading this series. The author gave me just enough to be satisfied with this book while also leading me on and making me impatient for more answers!