Our intrepid MC's may be disparate right now and feeling that they are waging a war on their own but they are coming closer to their goal of overthrowing an all-powerful, corrupt and unsympathetic empire.

Our MC's are all in far flung parts of the empire and are attempting to make it back to Tenth City or Crache in order to solidify their forces and make the last desperate push for revolution. The story is chockful of action and is paced well but it does slow a little bit - the only way to cope with all these storylines trying to mesh together.

Lexi, Dyeawan, Taru and Evie are the still the bad*ss heroes they were in the first book and their confidence is growing, even poor Lexi who seems to think she is still ineffective as a pleader. Evie is proving herself as the Sparrow, but she may be facing the biggest loss of them all. The enigmatic Taru is stoic, unflappable and unstoppable as usual and Dyeawan is learning that not everything is as it would appear. Their allies/enemies are constantly changing and the smell of death is never far from them.

A brilliantly complex but endearing story of women and non-binary characters leading the campaign for change. The men are very much aware of just who is in charge, thank you very much. I really enjoy the subtle nods to real world politics wrapped in this fantasy setting. My heart broke in those final few chapters and I'm hoping against hope that there are going to be some resurrections somehow. Roll on book 3!