I’m in love with this series

This did suffer some from second-book syndrome, but I freaking loved it anyway! The Jasmine Throne was my favorite adult epic fantasy book last year so I could not wait to read this and while this book wasn’t quite as good -as it did slow down some in comparison- I really enjoyed it and I’m in love with this series. I personally had a really rough last week so there were many times I just needed a great story that would transport my mind to another world and that was exactly what this book did. It was the perfect book at the right time for me and I could not be more thankful. It was also so beautifully written that even if I didn’t always love the story choices, I just didn’t mind.

I do want to mention that this is sapphic, adult, fantasy. I know some people have the label YA on this but it is Adult. There is a good amount of violence and death and one sex scene that is not explicit. This book feels darker in tone than I remember the first book being, but I have read YA books that have felt darker and more violent than this book so I think it would be appropriate for kids who read older YA books, but again I’m no expert in judging kid appropriate things.

I also want to mention that this series is epic fantasy, with big sweeping casts and large books. I would also put this second book under military fantasy as the military campaign for the throne is the main part of this book. Because of this change, I would now recommend this series more to fans of the first book, and fans of epic and or military fantasy. As much as I love and widely recommend the first book, I don’t know if I think the series as a whole, would be as enjoyable for someone who is newer to the fantasy genre or who is not much of a fantasy fan.

The romance was a small part of the book but like in the first book, I enjoyed it anyway. The small parts that were there were dramatic and fun to read. A fake example: “I love you so much” “No! I love you and can’t you see how tortured I am?” “You think you’re tortured? No, I’m the one so tortured by my love for you.” Yep, gimmie more of that! I’ll read that angsty drama all day long, thank you.

You may have guessed by me calling this military fantasy that this book really focused on Malini’s story the most. While Priya’s story progressed, it just didn’t move at the same speed, but book 3 looks almost to be the opposite and I can’t wait to see what happens to Priya next. I’m assuming it will be the final book but I don’t know for sure. Everything is such a mess I can’t help but wonder how anyone can have a happy ending or even a sorta peaceful ending. All I know is I can’t wait to read the next book and find out. Suri is writing a wonderful epic fantasy series here and I feel very lucky to have found it. 4.50 Stars.

A copy was given to me for an honest review.