This was a good novel, not as well paced and written as the first book Spin the Dawn, but a good end to the duology. I felt some parts were slow, but there was also quite a bit pushed into this book. There are two major confrontations that Maia must face, which makes the book overly dramatic in the middle. Bandur was created to be a villain, the foil to Maia, and the reason for her changing. The final confrontation between the two should have been reflective of that, but instead it just felt overly dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, and it just fell flat for me. I think Maia acted outside of her character in this scene, her decisions making little sense. However, often times Maia, as a character, would continuously change her mind. And not in a logical, thought out way. She would say "I will not do this thing" and then immediately negate what she has said by doing the thing. It was jarring and confusing, also very frustrating to empathize when she vows not to put those she loves in danger and them immediately does. Or when she says she must leave a place for others safety, but then stays for days. I found her character to be the hardest to connect to, when she should have been easiest as the voice of the narrative. My favourite moments included Lady Sarnai. She is ruthless, but she is also fair and actually tries to do something to save those she knows she can. I enjoyed that she was a mix of both a likeable and an unlikeable character. It made her such a complex character that added a lot of depth to the book. She is very forthright and her decisions are logical, and she also heeds the advice of others without running into battle without thinking. I would have loved a whole story on her, and her relationship with Lord Xina. Just the perfect leader, both cruel and kind, smart and battle savvy. The novel starts out really fast paced, with lots happening. It kind of slowed near the middle, but the end picked up again. Each character was allowed to showcase strength of spirit in terms of their loyalty to A'Landi. I loved Maia's friend Ammi, who battled through her own fear and her inability to fight in order to help her friends and make her family proud. I felt Maia's story was so original and beautifully thought out, and I really thought the conclusion was perfectly done. It was emotional, thoughtful, and hopeful. I recommend this duology if you are looking for a good fantasy story with characters you can easily love, or love to hate.
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