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*Some Spoilers Below!*

Vagabond seafarer Evan Strangward can move the ocean and the wind, but his magical abilities seem paltry in comparison to Empress Celestine’s. As Celestine’s bloodsworn armies grow, Evan travels to the Fells to warn the queendom of her imminent invasion. If he can’t convince the Gray Wolf queen to take a stand, he knows that the Seven Realms will fall. Among the dead will be the one person Evan can’t stand to lose.

I loved the inclusion of Evan’s storyline in this instalment in the series. It was nice to get some background about his character and see what brought him to Arden. He was only in the first book for such a short amount of time that I almost forgot who he was and didn’t think he would be as integral to the series as he was which was a nice surprise. To see him have such a similar upbringing as the other magemarked and how his story differed from the others was very interesting and highly engaging. It was also so nice to get more of an insight into Destin before he became the Assassin of Arden and the relationship he built with Evan and how it was snatched away.

Lila is again a bit of a mystery. She pops up just about everywhere in the plot and is one of the only characters to have interactions with all of the other main characters. She seems to be deep into her spy persona and even though I think her main loyalties lie with the Gray Wolf Throne I can’t help but think the Southern Islands are going to come into play and we are going to find out more about her other family.

The world is once again expanding and we are seeing some of the other continents in this world. I liked seeing how different Carthis is to the Seven Realms and how they refer to them as wetlanders and how they connected them through the pirates. Again I am loving this side plot with the Empress and her city on the Northern Islands. We are definitely given more answers as to why she is chasing the magemarked but I am not 100% sold on what she told Lyss. I have a feeling there is still more to the story and we are going to have a massive twist in the next book.

I am loving that we are finally getting some interaction between all the characters. Having Ash back in the mix campaigning to find his sister at Fellsmarch, Lyss and Jenna on Celestegarde figuring out the Empress’s plans and then Destin and Hal back in Arden. Everyone is starting to interconnect and the action is starting to heat up. Plans are in motion and I have a feeling like this last book is going to be explosive!

⭐️5/5 stars I’m loving everything about this series so far!