When waves of mistrust and misunderstanding come between two girls whose attraction to each other is incredibly powerful, it appears that those elements will spell doom for not only their love, but the countries they're close to ruling. However, circumstances conspire to undo the worst, but not before there is an abundance of bloodshed. A good choice foe libraries owning the first book as well as for ones where dark fantasy is popular. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Forgotten Gods duology. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: This was beautifully written and does an excellent job of wrapping up this duology. For most of the book Nirrim and Sid are separate. Nirrim is taking over as empress of her home city but she is ruling without her heart (she bargained her heart away to the god of thieves). Meanwhile, Sid is back home in Herran trying to navigate the promises she made before she left (marriage to the Prince of a neighboring country). When rumors of a dark, cruel queen reach Sid, she can only assume that Nirrim needs her help.

The writing here is stunning. It is also a wonderful story of family, friendship, and love. There is a mystery about why Kestral’s health is failing that Sid has to solve in the first part of the book but much of the story is also about Sid accepting who she is and accepting that her family accepts that. It is heartbreaking to watch Nirrims struggle with making decisions as a ruler when her compassion has literally been stolen from her.

I really enjoyed this. The ending did feel a bit abrupt and incomplete to me. I also was a bit sad that Nirrim and Sid didn’t spend more of the story together. However, this book did an excellent job of wrapping the story up and was a joy to read.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this story. It is a beautifully written story about gods, family, friendship, love, and magic. This book does a wonderful job of wrapping up the series and I would recommend it to those who enjoyed the first book in this duology. ( )