Ok, I was not ready for that plot twist at the end. This explains so much.

The story, although a bit less action-centered than the first one, is still very engaging, and follow a logic step after the first novel. I just missed seeing Max and Kevin a bit more, seeing as they were the ones more emotionally affected by the events on book 1, but you get what you get.

The whole backstory on the Queen of Shadows is told wonderfully, both book 1 and book 2 give so many hints on who she is, yet when she reveals herself, it's a slap to the face, it's not someone you'd expect at all. I was and still am a bit shocked by that revelation still.

Some aspects worth noticing, usually there are multiple groups in different adventures, and each chapter show part of one group's story, and the next chapter show another group's adventure, and usually those chapters end in a cliffhanger. For someone who reads the book a bit at a time, it can be hard to follow what each group is doing, when, and what happened last, because you're engaging with those people's action, then at the climax it cuts to another adventure, and at the climax it cuts to resume the other group's tale. It's a bit confusing. Another thing that didn't make me give those books 5 stars is thar there were some dull parts in the middle of the story, but other than those, the book was *chefs kiss* amazing.

I really enjoyed the characters and the magic, I think the cliffhangers and the plot development were also a key element of me wanting to keep reading this book.
However, all in all, I wasn't super invested and it's probably because I hadn't read book 1 (as I got this as a netgalley copy to review). I will have to eventually come back to this book after reading the 1st one so I can re-evaluate my opinion when the story makes more sense to me!

You are thrown from one adventure to the next and never know what to expect. The magic system was interesting and the character development was really good and you got to know the characters and their backstories even more.
These books have everything and are really entertaining. I laughed, I cried, I felt the suspense. Real page turners in other words. And the twist at the end. Can't wait till I get to read the third book.