flat out angry. Thankfully, this book saved my views on the entire series. Not only has the writing and pacing improved, but also the tension, depth, villains, story, and characters. This is not to say that it is perfect, but it is much better than the previous two and has definitely convinced me to read the fourth and final book in the series, War Storm. 

 

One of my favorite parts about this book was Maven, Maven, Maven! Previously Mare had talked about how despite all of his wrongdoings, she still felt some kind of connection with him, which I never was able to understand. I mean, he is killing hundreds of thousands of your people, how could you think of him as anything other than a monster? However after reading this book and getting to know him better, it totally makes sense. Learning why he is the way that he is, how he came to be, his motivations and his weaknesses genuinely turned him into such an interesting and unique villain. It pulled the story together so well, and at points I even felt sort of bad for him. He was very well written, and one of the best villains I have seen in a YA fantasy series. 

 

Mare, in a twist that I had not seen coming, was actually likable and sympathetic in this book. My main complaint over the course of this series has been how unlikable she is. She was extremely obnoxious, selfish and annoying throughout, especially in Glass Sword, and was one of the main reasons why I took such a long break from the books. However, you genuinely get to see her grow and change as a person. She realizes her mistakes and learns from them, makes more mature decisions and handles difficult situations much better than she has in the past. You can actually see the progression as the story unfolds, and by the end she is like an entirely different person. This is definitely due to the serious amount of trauma she has had to endure. I look forward to seeing how this growth progresses into the next book. 

 

The side characters are presented well, and you actually get to learn more about their motivations, personalities, and unique powers. The problem is, this book did not do a great job in refreshing the readers minds from the last book, so I ended up forgetting who a lot of the characters were. We are introduced to two more povs, one that I really really loved and one that I really didn't like until much later, but it was still interesting to see how the two sides were progressing in their motives. 

 

Cal was fine in this book, if not for a bit underwhelming in the first half. It was interesting to see his internal battle of where his loyalties lie, and either turning his back on his kingdom and home, or fighting back with the women that he loves. However I do think that a lot more could have been done with his character, it would have been interesting to see a bit more emotion. We do get this later in the story though so I am not too mad about it, and I really liked seeing his connection to Mare expand. 

 

The spacing and pacing were better than the previous books. Although it was slow in the first half, it contained a lot of political building which I thought was important to the story. I understand a lot of people will either love or hate the political side of YA fantasy books, and that's fine, but I also think it pulled the story together well in this aspect. The plot overall was interesting and answers a lot of questions that were building up in the series. It contained a few plot twists, none that were as interesting as the first book but well done all the same, and still had me on the edge of my seat. Additionally, we got to see a lot more of Mare using and perfecting her powers, which I thought was something that was missing in the other books. 

 

One of the absolute best parks of this book were the fighting scenes. Even though there were not a lot of them, they were easily the best in the series and so well done. It was a very creative way to show a battle, and great at demonstrating everyone's individual powers. It kept me on edge and I didnt know what would happen next. 

 

Basically, if you are hesitant to read this book because you did not like Glass Sword, I recommend you give it a chance anyway. The writing is better, the world is expanded on, characters have grown and become more likable, and the plot overall is more interesting. Although the ending was a bit disappointing than I had hoped, I do look forward to reading the fourth and final book in this series, War Storm.