This book immediately gripped me much more than the first. Talyien is such a deeply complex character who has been thrust into a thousand impossible situations and has lost a LOT getting out of them, and never unscathed. The walls she's built around herself are crumbling as she faces the consequences of her own actions as well as those of her father, whose shadow continues to loom large over the story. She's made mistakes and she continues to make mistakes, but we get to watch her learn and grow. A little too late, maybe, but it's growth all the same. She's hard to love at times, but Villoso takes us so deep into her mind that I feel like I really know her.

Unfortunately, the main I have with the book is the plot and pacing. Tali is relentlessly strung from action scene to action scene in a way that feels more convenient than natural and gets to be really exhausting. Whenever there is a moment of peace, you know something explosive is about to happen to interrupt it. I have the feeling that Villoso is a pantser rather than a plotter, and that's okay! It just really shows.

I still enjoyed this read overall and I'll definitely being finishing the series soon because I'm so interested to see where Tali ends up.