i cannot believe i left this unrated, especially because it was one of my favourite books of 2024! i'm writing it now after i've finished my re-read the day before the golden raven comes out, and where we begin with jean in this book hits even harder. in my reading journal i wrote that this a character study on him, how he wades through the aftermath of the king's men, and navigating this new world where he can, tentatively, dream of who he is outside of his past and outside of being a raven, of being someone's property. 

one of the reasons i didn't rate it higher was that there were many new characters, most of whom i didn't particularly like. but i appreciate the trojans more this time round, and i do see them being a place of comfort for jean. his relationship with jeremy is tenuous but refreshing, i think i'm rooting for their relationship to deepen but it doesn't have to be romantically! what i am excited for is finding out what is up with jeremy's background(?!), jean actually playing some exy and maybe more cameos of the foxes as well. but given how much of the raven king was an emotional rollercoaster, i am definitely preparing myself for some landslides.