Book 1 tore my heart out and book 2 may have just done the same thing. I must comment on the world building, it is amazing. Every good fantasy needs a complete world built around it, with rules and landmarks, this world is so well thought out and described, I can feel it. This is one of the most important things when it comes to true escapism in books. We revisit some familiar places, but the new places are just as well detailed. Safiya is such a great FMC, there is a lot of past trauma and abuse, but her men also have trauma and pasts that haunt them. The battles and action here are nee and the psychological battles are the most harrowing. With a truly evil bad guy and the people around him no better than sheep, it is a struggle for any kindness. I cannot wait to see what the conclusion is to this story but I must say, this is still one of my favourite series of the year!