This quote basically summarizes how I feel about the Night Huntress series. The obsession is real LOL. This review will contain spoilers. It's unavoidable, sorry.

Now that Mencheres and Kira's story is over, we are finally back with Cat and Bones. After Cat revealed to the undead world that she is now a full vampire, she thought that would put a complete stop to Apollyon's plans for a ghoul-vampire war. But Apollyon is not done with his plans for a war as he continues to incite ghouls against vampires. This plotline is not really new, but it shows how good Jeaniene Frost is at continuity. Not only does she reveal and solidify Apollyon's true motivation for a war, she also builds on little tidbits that were briefly mentioned in the early books of this series. I am mainly referring to the only other half-breed that the undead world knew of prior to Cat. Jeaniene Frost is fearless when it comes to adding historical figures to her stories. The addition of Joan of Arc as the only other known half-breed is *chef's kiss*

To be quite frank, Apollyon is not an impressive villain. Yes, his plan was evil and he has done some terrible things. But his ghouls are the ones who do everything for him. When it comes to the actual battle, Apollyon is quite the coward. Ultimately, he was very underwhelming as the villain. That being said, it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story because what I love the most about this particular book is that it explores Cat's relationship with key characters in the Night Huntress world. The running theme in this book is the acceptance of impending death, regardless of immortality. We get to see Cat lowering her barriers and opening up emotionally to Bones. The last of her shields are officially down as she comes to accept that death is inevitable and will one day separate her and Bones 🥺 At the same time, we get to see Cat dealing with her uncle's declining health and oh man, I cried so much 😢

This book also does a fantastic job fleshing out Cat's relationships with various supporting characters. Cat gets to interact with various supporting characters here and I just LOVE the relationship she has with every single character in this world. I always love Cat, but I ESPECIALLY LOVE her in this book. I love her friendship with Fabian-definitely one of my favourite relationships in this series. They are SO CUTE. Cat also finally speaks to Mencheres and they patched things up. Their scene together was so freaking sweet 🥺 And as usual, I always enjoy Cat's scenes with Vlad and there were some GREAT interactions between them in this book. I unexpectedly really enjoyed this trio Mencheres x Cat x Vlad and I hope we get to see more these three interacting as a group in the future LOL. There were some priceless moments between these three that are forever branded in my mind LOL. I only wish that we had seen more of Cat x Denise. I miss their friendship!

I can't conclude this review without talking about the Queen Marie. She has such an interesting dynamic with Cat. Marie is so devious and sly. She plays everyone like they're pawns in her game and this woman plays the long game. She only steps in when she's needed. A true QUEEN 👑 As scary as she is, it would be so awesome to see her and Mencheres fight. Now Marie is a true adversary for someone like Mencheres, unlike the loser Radje.

To conclude: for me personally, this book is less about the villain and more about Cat herself. And omg that ending!!! Mini cliffhanger!!! I need the next book now!!

P.S: Chapter 21. CHAPTER. 21. Enough said. 

P.P.S. There is only one thing that never came up again: Cat told Bones there was something she wanted to do after they finish dealing with Apollyon. But this didn't come up again, so we don't know what she was referring to.