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Rating: 3.7 stars (rounded up to 4 stars)

The second installment in the “Guardians of Dawn�� series is filled with more action and adventure. Although the tone is a bit more serious, there is still a good balance of light-heartedness and humor. In this novel, the world building definitely gets more intricate. The plot is a little bit darker since the story revolves around the mystery of demonic infection and the undead. We also learn more about the prophecy, the Guardians of the Dawn, and the Star of Radiance, as we collect more pieces from the book of “Song of Order and Chaos.�� There is also a political subplot involving The Herald of Glorious Justice, which is a rebellious fraction believing in the liberation of magicians by any means.

As you can see the story has more depth, but not only that, the characters are more diverse and also well developed. I loved the neurodivergent and nonbinary representation with Ami and Gaden’s character. Ami, is often described as eccentric and different. She has a hard time communicating her emotions. She definitely finds more comfort in learning from books than real life. People have often made her feel like an outcast and that her feelings are wrong, so it was really rewarding to watch her grow into her own person, build friendship, and find love with Gaden. Gaden’s storyline was very interesting. They want the freedom to choose who they are vs what other people want them to be. Similar to Ami, I loved Gaden’s journey as they struggle to hold on to themselves under the burden of their destiny. Zhara, I didn’t really care for her much in book one. However, I loved her maturity in this book, especially during the interactions with the other guardians. As for Han, he brings such comic relief and humor that I just love him.

I think this sequel definitely stepped up from book one. I definitely felt that there was a bond and friendship forming between the guardians. However, one thing I did struggle with in this novel was the magic system. In the novel we learned about each of the Guardians power as explained by the “Song of Order and Chaos.�� However, when these powers are applied throughout the story, it just didn’t make sense. Example, Guardian of Wood is able to grant life where there is none. During a scene where she is healing a magician from the infection, the magician ends up dying. However, when she heals a non-magician from the infirmary scene, they survive. What is even more confusing is towards the end, she heals a non-magician, who ends up dying (similar to the magician), but then is able to bring back to life. This than brings up questions, why does her healing kill certain people but not others? Why isn’t she able to bring back the other dead characters in the story? The principles behind the magic just seems very inconsistent. There is no constraint or limits which than brings into questions some of the plot lines. Also, I felt the Guardian of the Wood’s celestial companion was underutilized. It was mention they have the power to heal all illness, but we never see that in the story.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this novel. I thought it was a great continuation of the “Guardian of Dawn�� series. I definitely loved the development of the characters and the relationships. I do hope the magic does become more defined and that the mythical creature play more of an active role later on in the series. However, I do love the direction that the story is heading, so I am excited to continue with this series and I can’t wait to meet the other Guardians.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.