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3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Read and edited!
Pages: 328
Started: 5 February 2023
Finished: 24 February 2022
Summary:
It's been six months since Blair A'Malum left Regiis, and while she and her friends are safe from the persecution they would inevitably face there after their intercession in Regiian crown politics, they are also unbearably bored. When Blair receives a letter from Regiian prince Rajael, hinting that the cure to her crippling lack of empathy might be in his country and begging her to return to him, she and her friends set off on a journey back to Deorum.
Raj is trying to put his kingdom back together. After his sister Reine destroyed the political system, nearly demolishing the whole country with it, Raj has abandoned his wishes for freedom and adventure for the sake of his people, but despite Reine's help, politics is a lonely and exhausting venture. Though at first reluctant, Raj finds himself becoming friendlier with Rhiannon, a visiting Drei diplomat, even as word of a murderer using Blair A'Malum's signature spreads across the nation. Yet in a country walking the knife's edge between war and chaos, few things are as they seem.
Thoughts:
This book was incredible, and I think it's endlessly cool that I'm friends with its author. I am fully banking on riding her coattails to fame.
The characters in this book were so strong. I think Cas was my favorite; he was both fun and emotionally complex, a killer but comedically weak, though I did decide that he seems like a younger, prettier version of the food critic from Ratatoille, so I don't know how much credibility my opinion has. Rhiannon was also super fun, though she was pretty obviously villainous from the beginning. Blair, of course, was a blast to read as well. The character dynamics were clear and very entertaining, and the characters' distinct personalities really shone through.
The plot was also fun, complex while still logical and followable, and the pacing was glorious. It was super exciting; the scenes were almost exclusively filled with the perfect sense of urgency.
And the writing! Amelia's writing is so freaking pretty. There were some comments that touched a little too close to home, and so many descriptions of land and people and magic that felt like art.
I am so excited to finish this series and see how it ends.
Words:
Effaced (v) erase from a surface
Borne (v) carried. I had forgotten that this word still has such an old-english spelling.