Steel and Stone is like if you threw Sleeping Beauty qnd Persephone's origin story in a blender with a few pages of The Odyssey for seasoning. Sanchez weaves these stories together in such a way that they feel like their own cohesive tale but the Easter eggs are everywhere.  

It's important to note that although the very beginning of this book intersects with the end of the first one (Ash and Snow), it is definitely a standalone. I can't decide whether I actually like our heroes and heroines, the author definitely loves her morally gray characters. But they are certainly strong and heroic during their various quests and adventures. 

My only complaint is that it was starting to feel long. The chapters were nice and short allowing you to keep going in sequential order easily between the POVs but some of Beauty's parts felt repetitive at points, where nearly the same things happened day after day. 

Overall, I absolutely recommend this! And I can't wait for the next book!