“He knew that she was the only one he wanted to find in the darkness. The only one he wanted to hold the shape of his soul, even with his thorns and dreams and wounds.”

Another beautiful book from Rebecca Ross, proving that I need to read everything she's ever written.

As with the first book, A Fire Endless transported me to Cadence from the first page. I read quite a bit (admittedly, not as much lately lol) and it's incredibly rare to find books I feel are this immersive and magical, with characters that stay with me long after I've read the last page. Both books of the Elements of Cadence duology accomplish this flawlessly.

With that being said, I did enjoy this one slightly less than A River Enchanted. Mostly due to an increase in predictability & melodrama, particularly in scenes that were meant to be solving a political dilemma. These moments often felt like the fantasy equivalent of "and then everyone clapped." Which may not make sense to anyone other than myself, but the comparison remains.

Don't get me wrong! I still adored this book. I love the poetically romantic way it was written, the focus on the spirits, and the journeys the characters went on. Truthfully, my complaints are only noticeable when contrasted with how perfect book 1 was. I just wanted to explain why this didn't quite reach a 5 star rating.

Overall? This has cemented its place as one of my all-time favorite series/duologies. These are the kinds of books you leave feeling forever changed, willing everyone in your life to read it so they can partake in the story you love so dearly.

If you've made it this far into my exhausted rambling and are still wondering: yes, I highly recommend this duology. It's atmospheric, magical, romantic, and a bunch of other beautiful words I could probably think of if I wasn't so tired right now.

Just read it. It's fantastic.