Almost gave this a 3 but that seems too harsh for what is still a really engaging story in an interesting universe.

In this book we spend the first, Iduno, third(?) going back over Inevera's childhood. Really, delving THIS deep into ANOTHER Krasian character? I would have liked to know more about, oh Iduno, someone from Lakton maybe, or Jeph, or Gared, or even, like, Darsy. SERIOUSLY, DARSY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER. Instead we are back in Krasia, again, seeing events from Jardir's childhood, again, just from a different perspective. It was a slog to get through for me.

Eventually we get back into the thick of the current-events plot, thank goodness. Arlen's character is steadily evolving with each book, I'm fascinated by where this is going. I don't mind the addition of Renna as much as I might have expected, though I don't exactly like her yet.

As other reviewers mentioned though, this book is different from 1 and 2 with regard to how sex is written. I don't mind reading about sex, but I found the abrupt increase in detail level to be jarring. In previous books it was more like "she grabbed him and pulled him down, then he was inside her, they were both enjoying it, then they were interrupted by a demon." Very detached, perfunctory description. It was less about the details of the act and more about the interpersonal "who's doing it with whom." In this book there is a lot more detail about THE ACT. I found it kind of distasteful after what I was used to from previous books.

3.5 stars. A series i should have reread before starting this one just to get the names straight.

While I enjoyed Daylight War immensely, I feel as if it is lacking something that made "The Painted Man" (I like this name better but I assume the publishers said no because of the native american similarities with"painted")so good but I want to say it is because of the human failings within the book. I find that the Krashian's are so wrapped up in their need to be "Macho Men" that I just cannot take their beliefs seriously. unfortunately extreme religions can blind people and I feel like the people in the book would have had a better chance at survival is they could have swollowed their pride and worked together rather than trying to repeat the past.

What I would like to point out is that Brett does an awesome job on characterization. His characters react appropriately to what is going on in the plot in this book. to that, I applaud you Mr. Brett.
What really annoyed me was the amount of time jumping in the book, especially when we are in Inerva's PoV. I couldn't remember what year it was between the last chapter and the next. sometimes you jumped from the past to the "almost present" back to the past and then back to the present. I got confused alot with my kindle version as it isn't as easy to flip back and forth.

Another thing that I had a hard time with and I think others will have a hard time with as well is the Krashian names. I had a lot of issues remembering the difference between Asome and Ashan. Was always stopping and trying to remember which was a son of Jirdir and who the heck the other guy was.

I also have to give Mr. Brett props for including a couple of gay relationships in this book. I was sad about the fate of Inerva's brother but from his first appearance in the book, we all could guess his fate. It would be nice to see some on Arlen's side tho (no, I never ask for much!).

This took me longer to read than the other two but mainly because it focused more on characters I don't care for as much. I don't understand the other reviews because although there is some romance and sex they don't seem to take away from the story at all. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Amazing - love love love this series. Great ending.

I’ve continued to love the lore and world-building of this series, but this one suffers a bit from middle book syndrome. Not a ton happens, and the main characters I loved in the first book (Arlen, Leesha, and Roger) act frankly quite stupid for a lot of the book. It drives the plot forward in interesting ways, but is super inconsistent. Also don’t love Arlen and Renna’s relationship, or the relationships Leesha has. They felt rushed and again, quite stupid. Jardir, Inevera, and Abban ended up being my favorite characters to follow in this one. While I’m not pleased with some of the character arcs, they do set up an interesting fourth book that I’m excited to read.

I wish goodreads would allow for 1/2 stars. I gave this book a 4 star rating because of a slow start, but because of the fabulous ending I add a 1/2 of a star. Excellent! Hoping book 4 comes out soon!

Grrrr.... cliffhanger....

If there's one thing I could think of that I hate most in a book it's a cliffhanger. And this one sure ends in one. Literally (you'll probably laugh about that later if you don't throw your preferred reading device down in anger first).

I originally debated about giving this book between 3 and 4 stars, and right after I finished the book, I decided on 3 because of the horrible ending. I have now downgrading that rating to a 2 because upon retrospect, I couldn't care less about most of the characters in the book that were focused on. And the characters I found myself liking were waaaaaay in the background with very little or minimal personal development.

I'm just disappointed in this book. It kept my interest, so it gets 2 stars for that. But the overall story and character development were despicable. I kept reading because I was waiting for some big thing to happen or for every stupid decision the characters had made up to that point to make sense, but neither moment ever came. I just don't know if I can find it in myself to care to read the next book.

Great. Except for the literal cliffhanger ending. I read that last page to my 9 year old, who agreed it was not a fair place to end a story.