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4.5/5 ��

Full review on my Blog: ��

“Because, for a moment, when I was at my worst, I felt powerful, and most of the time, I felt powerless.��

What that ending was, I have no idea, but I turned from crying out of pure candid joy to crying out of frustration.

With this book, the whole The Folk of the Air trilogy goes from 0 to 100 really quick. I could feel an increase of the pacing in the first book (which was packed with action), a pace that was a bit slowed down in this one, but it picked up towards the end.

This book has fantastic action.

“A king is a living symbol, a beating heart, a star upon which Elfhame’s future is written.��

I started to dislike various characters of this book more than initially.

Taryn was never one of my favourites, but her part in this book makes her look less in my eyes. Even though she seems disturbed herself, she is too naïve and easily manipulated by her absolute desires of normalcy. And she’s stubborn about them too.

Vivi seemed totally great in the first book. I actually came to love her. But in this one, she’s definitely changed. Some of her certain actions do not represent her as they should and so, she’s no less amongst my own personal list of favourites of the book.

Whom I really came to love though are the Roach and the Bomb. I thought at first that they were okay, but after this, OMG, I love them. Especially the Bomb. Like, she’s really cool and knows how to play everything off. And also SHE’S A MASTER OF EXPLOSIVES so she has a popping personality indeed.

“The disturbing thing about Cardan is how well he plays the fool to disguise his own cleverness.��

I’ve already said this but I am going to repeat myself: I AM IN LOVE WITH CARDAN.

He’s still “The boy who still hoped he might be loved��. I love you, Cardan boy, don’t you worry that pretty head of yours.

As the action goes on, I just can’t help but fall in love with him with every chapter. He’s just…such an amazing character that sometimes I feel like he’s the only one who’s been blessed with character depth (even though the characters' own emotional profiles seem to deepen in this book more than in the first one). Cardan just gets better and better and he surprised me with his cunning and wisdom more than once.

“He is ridiculously beautiful as ever, mouth soft, lips slightly parted. Lashes so long that when his eyes are closed they rest against his cheek.��

I can’t get over this portrait of Cardan exposed to us by Jude, who carefully examines the High King’s every move. She’s obviously and furiously in love with him, but aren’t we all? (At least some of us admit it though, unlike others *ahem* Jude)

Their relationship is still weird. I have to say it. But I think that even this weirdness has its own uniqueness, its own interesting trait that I can’t let go of, but I can’t condemn either. It’s something wickedly interesting going on with this pair and I am kind of liking it.

“I hate you so much that sometimes I can't think of anything else.��

After this book, I still like Jude.

Again, she’s a bit annoying sometimes, she is impulsive and tends to be rational until the verge of irrationality. But I am still fond of her. And I kind of understand everything she does because she’s just a mortal girl playing at high life. Even though she’s playing a dangerous and foreign game, she still doesn’t have to know all the moves. I am the type of person figuring things out while on my way of doing them so I am completely understanding Jude and all her discontinuity in life.

I am a bit still not okay with the last 20 pages of the book though. It really made me very emotional and hurt and even though I hated it, I also loved the twist of it.

It was such a good read and all I got left after reading this second book is the feeling of more. By this point, I think it is a bit hard not to love this whole plot. It’s truly fantastic.

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Also see:
#1. The Cruel Prince (⭐⭐⭐⭐��)
#3. The Queen of Nothing (⭐⭐⭐⭐��)