I enjoyed the Bone Shard Daughter but I am slightly disappointed in this sequel. It possibly suffered from middle book syndrome but the pacing of this book was so off. A lot of the story was setup and characters being caught up inside their own heads while figuring out the best way forward. For the most part, Lin is trying to consolidate her power and bring all the other island to trust in her rule. There were some petty politics involved but it wasn't anything extraordinary. Honestly, I had to really push myself to continue reading this at times because I knew if I stopped I wouldn't pick this up again.

Good things first! I really like the world and the magic system of this series. Its so unique and intelligent. Apart from the Bone shard magic from the previous book we also get a lot of glimpses of the Alanga's magic in this book, which was equally fascinating. The animal companions are just the best and I think they were also the best relationship that actually existed in the book. The last 25% was really good - also the only time when I was engrossed enough in the story that I didn't want to put it down.

I also really liked Phalue and Ranami's relationship. I just loved that they are so secure with each other and how well they work together to help their people. Sadly though, I don't think their chapters really added a lot to the overall story of this book. Atleast not until the very end. For most of it, they are doing their own thing and dealing with their own conflicts.

Moving onto some problem areas, apart from the pacing issue, this book heavily relies on the miscommunication trope - which in general is not my favourite to read. Everytime characters would start having a moment or they would be discussing something important, someone or something would interrupt them. As a result, they wouldn't really have the talk but instead assume stuff, overthink them and just form their own opinions without really taking in all the perspectives. This just kept happening again and again and it was very annoying.

But I think I was most disappointed in Jovis's chapters. I really liked him in the previous book but in this one he just comes across as so indecisive and manipulative. He just keeps making the same mistakes expecting different results and it took him ages to find his motivations. Lin was okay, I understood her frustration and what she was trying to achieve but honestly, I don't find her story very compelling, there's just this lack of charisma in her personality tbh. The romance was meh! And some of the big revelations weren't really surprising.

Nisong's whole arc wasn't very compelling either - I guess she does in a way represent the cost and the consequences of the Boneshard magic performed by the previous Emperor. Overall, this series has a very unique premise but I am really finding the characters somewhat lacking.

ARC provided by publishers via Netgalley!