I love these boys, plain and simple. It was such a pleasure watching their relationship grow and develop after the ending of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. Meadows is able to portray such a realistic, complicated, and beautiful love between the two of them. And we got even more of best man Markel! He's easily one of my top side characters of all time. The whole cast is just rich and lovely. That even includes Asrien, who might be the single horniest character I've ever read in fiction. I highly recommend reading the author's note at the end because it helps add context as to why the book is like it is.

The writing and plot are both on par with the first book (if not better), and I really enjoyed seeing more of the world and larger political situation. The ending is satisfying and ties a nice little bow on the duology, but there is enough wiggle room to expand. Which I desperately hope happens! I think I could read a million books in this series without getting tired of it.