“You were the one who wanted to save the world,” he said, quietly. “I just wanted to save you.”

Devastating. This book had my chest in knots. 

The betrayal is honestly so shocking. You know it’s coming when they introduce Aefe, but that doesn’t make it any easier to read.  
I finished the book frustrated by all the injustices and cruelty. And yet I couldn’t put the book down. Carissa Broadbent a knack for winding such vivid stories and portraying such depths of emotion.
I’ll probably read a light book after this series to recover, but still I’m so glad I picked up this series.  

For about half of the novel our main chapters are apart during the ongoing war. During this time we are introduced to a new POV which all comes to an epic conclusion when all the pieces come together. I DID not see the plot twists coming in this one. I did unfortunately find the majority of the book to be quite slow compared to book 1. I am hoping this was because of the large amount of character development that was necessary in this book.

I still loved the characters and the world, but this definitely suffered from middle book syndrome. I had a really hard time staying invested in Aefe’s pov up until the last hundred pages or so. Which is a big problem because the book is over six hundred pages long. I think that perhaps if the twist had been revealed a little earlier it would’ve helped. (Because it was a pretty excellent twist imo.)
It’s tough. I felt like the book drug on until really the final act, then I really loved the last bit… and then the end was so infuriating and sad that it left me feeling unsatisfied. Middle. Book. Syndrome. I’m just thankful the next book is already out.
I really did like how we expanded the world to include the Fey though, and overall I did enjoy those new characters too. Aefe included.
I’m excited to find out how it all ends.