“Lingering on the pain of their loss did not serve them now. That would only come with vengeance.”

Happy to report that this was (overall) an improvement on book 1.

I liked book 1 but there were also a lot of flaws that kept me from rating it higher. (Also, Riven was a much bigger part of that book and I don't like that man very much😇.)

This maintained some of the aspects that I didn't like from the first installment, but the focus was mostly on the plot points I was personally more interested in and built upon the pre-existing successes of book one.

Keera remains a really interesting, complex character to follow and I genuinely appreciate her as a protagonist. Her struggles always feel very justified and I appreciate that (unlike some other series) we see actual proof of her abilities. I also enjoy the characterization of the fae and elves in this series and the worldbuilding remains something I'm interested in; as well as the focus on colonization, land occupation, culture, and loss of identity.

That being said, there are definitely aspects of the story that I feel like would fall apart if one was to examine them too closely. Not to mention the ways this story feels very familiar (as I mentioned in my review for the previous book), the very possibly developing (completely unnecessary) love triangle

involving brothers, no less

, and just some issues I have with the odds of some of their plans actually working out.

Still! This is a fun time with heavier themes and I appreciated my reading experience. Even with the darker topics, this is an easy read and doesn't feel nearly as long as it actually is.

I'm not looking forward to if there's more developing romance because I legitimately do not care but maybe the next book will change my mind. I doubt it though lol.

Overall, this book cemented the fact that I do recommend this series to anyone looking for something nostalgically familiar but better developed (even with its shortcomings.)