While the conclusion of this duology gave me all the emotional connections and feels you could ask for from the sass to smouldering chemistry to sadness, I found it harder to read than part one. It's written well enough, and the story is good, but it just didn't flow quite as well for me; I kept feeling like I skipped paragraphs or even pages and was missing information. But, if you use your imagination to fill in the gaps, it's still a great experience.

What makes this book is the development of the relationships between the various characters; the bonds between friends, lovers, brothers and generally as a 'found family' are beautifully crafted. The new characters that are introduced very quickly become familiar and loveable, and you'd swear they've been there all along. However, I would have liked each individual to have a bit more in the way of character development - they're great characters, but just aren't quite three dimensional enough to truly feel real in your head. Even the existing characters don't quite feel as fleshed out as they should. I do wonder if this is because there are quite a lot of characters, places and events and there just isn't the space for those moments to drill down into each character's personality etc.

In some respects, it's also quite hard to keep track of where everyone is and what they're doing. For much of the book, the core group splits up and uses 'magic doors' to travel around the land - it's really difficult to work out where you are when travel is instantaneous! Not only that, but the worldbuilding and descriptions of place don't really come across well enough for you to be able to orient yourself properly. It's a shame because the author has clearly put a lot of effort and thought into the worldbuilding - there's even a map at the front of the book to help - but there's just not quite enough of a sense of place within the writing. Ultimately, sometimes there's just a bit too much going on with an ensemble cast and a big old world for them to play in.

I did like the 'resolution' of the cliffhanger from part one - it was cleverly done and meant I could quite quickly relax back into the story. I think I'd have been on tenterhooks otherwise! And likewise, the climax of the story is beautifully done (although there is one small moment that I had to read two or three times before it made sense). It's one of those books where I found myself desperately hoping for the traditional fairy tale HEA and, while it doesn't quite tick all the boxes, it's still a satisfying conclusion. 

There's a little novella to follow on, which I'll pick up later. But all in all, another author I'll be more than happy to visit at RARE25!