It’s notoriously hard for me to get to a sequel if there’s a long gap between two instalments. After absolutely loving the first book and being left on a devastating cliffhanger, I was surprisingly buzzing to get to the second book. 

Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White is an exceptionally well-done conclusion, building on its strengths from the first boo: the lyrical prose, the striking and vibrant setting descriptions that absorb the reader into the story. 

The beginning is a little slow, but it’s always a good pace. We’re constantly moving towards something. 

Lan and Zen continue to have a burning chemistry that intensifies, even more with grief, anger and love entangled. Every scene they have together is drenched in bittersweet heartache. 

It has some incredible, dark and hair-raising scenes in the book, where the true gravity of the risk and danger of what Zen is trying to do sinks in for the reader. 

The last few chapters leading up to the climax and then the epic battle at the end is phenomenal. It’s cinematic in its visuals. It is massive in scale and magic. It is dramatic with its magic. It’s a full circle back to the moment where the story had begun. I had my heart in my throat afraid to reach the inevitable, but it’s an ending worthy of the story.