5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, multiple POVs, magic, political intrigue, scheming, morally gray characters
Castles in Their Bones review here, slight spoilers for that book will be in this review!
Big thanks to Netgalley, Delacorte Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I’m super excited that I got an ARC of this, and I’ve been wanting to know what happens since I read the ARC of Castles last year. The sequel definitely lives up to the first one and we get more political intrigue and machinations, more plots, and more of the sisters.
If Castles was Sophronia’s book, then this one is Beatriz’s. The book starts off a couple days to a week after the end of the last one, and while Beatriz is upset at all that happened in Cellaria, she hasn’t been beaten. We see this throughout the course of the novel, where again and again Beatriz manages to get back up and scrape together a new plan. She has a better understanding of her mother in this one as well, and she’s not about to make the mistake of underestimating her (or feeling safe) again. At the same time, she is also dealing with a new revelation and with Sophie’s death.
Pasqual makes a reappearance as well, and he’s fully on Triz’s side in this one. He definitely grows more confident in doing things that aren’t necessarily moral (though ‘moral’ really depends on who you’re asking). Ironically he also seems much more at ease, though that could have to do with being out of Cellaria. I liked how willing Pas was to help Triz in her endeavors, and it was nice to see that his softness was still there after everything (as was Ambrose).
Daphne is still a badass, though it was frustrating to read her POV at times because she is still so in her mother’s pocket. She’s been thoroughly trained to see things her mother’s way, and that reflects in how she’ll push aside what multiple people tell her and any evidence that her mother is wrong. That being said, I still love Daphne and she shows a lot of growth in this book. I’m very happy that she gets some closure on things, and I’m very interested to see where her and Bairre’s relationship goes considering everything that happens here. I’m also really really looking forward to book 3 since I know that will be Daphne’s book and we’ll get to spend a lot of time on her journey and seeing how things go with Friv and Bairre and the rebellion.
It’s kind of hard to get a good handle on Bairre since he’s hiding a lot and doesn’t get his on POV. He’s still working with the rebellion, though Daphne keys in on some of his naivete regarding them, but he also clearly cares about Daphne. He seems to want transparency with Daphne, but even when he gets some of her truths, he’s reluctant to provide his own in turn. That being said, I like him and he’s very solid as a character. I suspect he’ll have some make-or-break decisions in book 3 based on where everyone was and what the situation was like at the close of this one.
Leopold shows up in this one! And Violie! We know from the ending of Castles that Sophronia used magic and scheming to get the two of them out of the capital of Temarin prior to her execution, but we didn’t get to see if she’d succeeded. I’ll be honest, I was so so hoping there was some kind of trick or magic or something that meant Sophie was still alive, but she’s definitely, unfortunately dead.
Violie gets the third POV in the book, and it was interesting to see her view on things and learn about her own life. Her upbringing mirrors the triplets’ in a way, since she was also trained in the same sorts of things by Empress Margaraux, but obviously isn’t a princess and didn’t have the same mission. Violie feels a lot of guilt over what happened with Sophie, but as the book goes on, she gets some closure and is able to heal from that. Violie will almost definitely be playing a major role in book 3, and I’m very curious to know what happens there.
Leopold also has some guilt and some growth in this book. He, too, feels guilty about Sophie, particularly since he was the one who let his mother run Temarin into the ground, which resulted in the riots. He handles everything pretty well all things considered, though he’s definitely more sober than in Castles. Leopold even ends up running some schemes of his own, and I liked seeing the side of him that we saw toward the end of the last book.
Nigellus, Empress Margaraux’s empyrea, gets a larger role in this book as well. He guides Triz a little bit and it seems as if he does care for the girls in some sense. At the same time though, he kind of spirals into his research and the things he’s hearing from the other empyrea, and his actions there are less than savory. Aurelia, Bairre’s mother and another empyrea, also shows up with a larger role in this book. It’s somewhat unclear what her goals are, but since she’ll be around Daphne in book 3, I suspect we’ll figure more out then.
Nigellus’ role does reveal a connection between some things that had been mentioned in passing and not really touched upon. There was some very interesting foreshadowing going on here and I’m both curious and nervous to see where it goes in the last book of the trilogy.
A lot of things are poised to come together in the final book, and I really feel that things could go fantastically right or catastrophically wrong. Margaraux is a hard one to beat and she seems to have people she’s turned and spies everywhere. There’s also something going on with the stars and prophecies, which could serve to help or hinder Triz, Daphne, and co. And that’s not even touching on the things going on in Cellaria and Temarin.
I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a fantastic sequel. I look forward to the final book of the trilogy and need 2024 to get here quick!
Reading Queen E Reviews 