This book was incredibly close to giving me everything I wanted yet not quite getting there. I still loved this book. And I think that is why my expectations were so high and I kept waiting for it to just give a little bit more. 

This world is consuming. It made for an interesting pace of reading. On the one hand I wanted to keep reading. On the other hand I wanted to slow down and really sit in it for a while longer. In the end it didn’t quite hit the right spot with the pacing and it was a bit too slow for me. I think if that was more to my taste it would’ve gotten the full 5 stars. 

I think this is basically what I want a fantasy book to do. It has amazing world building. Good world building doesn’t immediately mean that I am interested in it but in this case it does. And then there is a big cast of characters that bring their very own air into the story. There were definitely storylines I was more interested in, particularly Will and James’s. But I could still get into the others. There often is no clear right or wrong and that makes for such interesting motives. The positioning of the characters to each other is so complicated and that makes it so glorious. 

I would have wanted more character moments. The ones we had were SO GOOD. Yet the story is really focused on the plot for the most part. I wouldn’t have minded a lot more Will and James yearning. 

This book was so thrilling. I cannot believe I still have to wait an unknown amount of time for the next book. I just want to continue now.