I thoroughly enjoyed this book - I loved being back in the Cursebreaker world revisiting Emberfall and Syhl Shallow and their characters. There is some inconsistency in the book and there is that annoying character trait of being too stubborn and shutting people out which in itself causes problems, however I was totally drawn into the story and couldn't wait to read on.

We briefly get to see the characters from the original Cursebreaker trilogy and I was so thrilled to see them again and to find out what happened after because the ending to the Cursebreaker trilogy was rather unsatisfying for me. We hardly see Harper but we get a few interactions between one of the main characters, Tycho, and Rhen which is fascinating given what happened between them in the first trilogy, particularly the second book. We also see what Lia Mara and Grey are up to and I still take massive issue with Grey. He really is a character that wants his cake and to eat it too and it aggravates me! He wants to be king but to also stay with his wife and child away from his kingdom, he's gratingly stubborn and treats his friends quite poorly. I still don't like him and this book reiterates that for me - he is yet to redeem himself and his stupid decisions.

But there are some new characters introduced into the world; Callyn, Jax, Lord Alek and Nora which are welcome additions. Jax is definitely a favourite and I just loved his romantic relationship in this book. It's also great to see more disability representation in a fantasy book, as well as more LGBT+ too! I wasn't too invested in Callyn and her sister Nora to start with but they grew on me as I read on and I'm glad of their addition to the story, particularly Nora's cheeky comments. 

I do have a couple of little gripes with this book (aside from the massive gripe that is Grey as a character...) but they're just little things like how Callyn is so poor she splits a boiled egg with her sister for dinner but then they have food leftover from the bakery when they don't sell enough... Surely they could consume this? Tycho is a bit tight-lipped in this story and I think the second book in the Cursebreaker triology thoroughly delved into the ramifications of miscommunication so this got a little tiring. And finally, I thought the ending was a bit rushed with the battle quickly over and the futures of the new characters swiftly wrapped up.

That being said, I can't deny that I was drawn into the story and really loved reading every chapter. I can't wait to see where it goes next, I just hope we don't get another 180 degree turn on a character's personality like with Grey... It just felt so lovely and warm to be wrapped up in this world again and I basked in it. Oh and how could I forget - this book features a cat so obviously that bumps up its rating!