This book has a lot that I liked. It's mostly an exploration of the greater world outside of the one that our characters know, and there's a lot of engaging mysteries that we slowly uncover, while setting up the third book. I really like what the author is doing with the blood magic, and the climate catastrophes that mirror our own. The writing is great, the little folk tales are absolutely wonderful, and I'm just floored with the flow of the sentences in them. I mostly enjoyed this book and found the ending rewarding, and it got my adrenaline pumping.

However, as someone who hates the frame-up/clearing the name trope, I was mostly bored with Anoor's storyline in this book. I felt like it was there to stall a much more interesting mystery, and it ended up being completely unimportant. There were other ways to get Anoor to where she is at the end of the book (I don't want to spoil too much, so I'm keeping it short and vague)—especially after the set-up of various tensions at the end of book one and the beginning of book two, which ultimately went nowhere. Anyway, that's my only bigger complaint. Otherwise, I'm glad I decided to try out The Final Strife, and I can't wait for The Ending Fire.