Discussions about books and coffee/tea
The driving force of this book, especially Veronyka's character, reminded so much of the saying from The Last Jedi, "That's how we're gonna win. Not fighting what we hate. Saving what we love". Veronyka's whole character is about wanting to save and protect everyone she loves and prevent as much bloodshed as possible, which stands in stark contrast to Val, who wants to destroy everyone and everything who has wronged her.
For those that aren't on Twitter, it has recently been revealed that Emily A. Duncan (author of the Something Dark and Holy series) is a bully and racist, especially towards Asian and Eastern European countries. This came about in the midst of discussions about racism towards Asian authors in the publishing world were happening. If you want a list of things she's done then I suggest taking a look at Hafsah Faizal (We Hunt the Flame) and Rin Chupeco's (The Bone Witch) Twitter page. But a summary:
I'm going to freely admit, while I did love this book it took me awhile (over a month) to finish it. I wasn't even sure if I should write a review of it because it took me so long. But, here I go.
I have sort of a love/hate relationship with this book. It has great world-building and did a good job of emphasizing how language changes and evolves over time, even though it does get confusing at times. I was oblivious to some of the plot twists, but some were still pretty predictable (not that that's a bad thing). It played a lot into the idea of people seeing technology/science that they don't understand as magic or sorcery, which indicates there was some sort of devolving or apocalyptic event that happened between Andra being put in cryostasis and her waking up.
This book definitely has a very gothic aesthetic to it, especially given how much the word 'blood' and 'vultures' is used in it. Seriously, it rivals the number of times SJM uses 'mate' in ACOTAR. The entire book had a very dark setting to it, but the two kingdoms we visit are dark for different reasons. Kalyzazin has a kind of winter/snow-covered, mountainous setting while Tranavia gives off more of a creepy bog, river vibe.
God, I'm still trying to collect all my thoughts from this book. It took me almost two months to get through. Not because it wasn't good, but because it was sooooo long and because it was so emotionally charged. Mixing that with everything that's going on in the world at the moment, it took me a minute or two. But man was it a great sequel.
The Book Lover's Coffeehouse 