Andrea Ward

I am so excited seeing Lisbeth and Felicia together!! There was the right amount of world expansion. We see wizards from different countries vying for a bigger sliver of power. And then there is drama with Eli and his brother. And we get to see their hometown come together and protect each other. There was so much good in this book!!

Wow! When the action started, it was very well done. It wasn't done just for the sake of having action. We see how the characters got to that point and why they are doing what they do. I understand why people fall in love with this series and with Brandon Sanderson.

The horror is very real in this one and that makes it a painful book to read, but it is important to know the real facts that this story is based on. There is a slow build to the final battle scene. The slow build was sometimes a little too slow. The ending was nice to have, but a little too easy after the battle. I would have liked a little bit of time dealing with things before there was a happy ending.

Coziness all throughout! I loved the character of Lou and her grandma. I loved the characters that were added to her life along the way. The ghosts are well done and a good investigation tool. I like that she had found a way to not let the public know she was talking to them. The other family issues were wrapped up pretty quickly and harshly, but it also made sense. So I am torn about my feelings on that part of the book. The solution was not my favorite, but I enjoyed the other parts so much that the solution didn't drag down my enjoyment. The romance is almost like a love triangle and I don't love those, but the author did try to avoid that. So Lou is confused about her love life, which could bring some good character growth.

I'm glad Imani matured and changed throughout the book. She was really annoying at first, but she got better. I am not a fan of romance, so the romance/ love triangle was not a favorite part. I like the way we learn about the world as Imani is learning about it. Amira is my favorite! I was glad to see her being recognized as more than just a little sister.

When he tries King can write compelling female characters facing difficulties. Dolores is a woman that people see as hard, but inside she is complex. I really liked the experience of reading this book. Dolores is the only one talking even when she is answering questions. We don’t hear from the people asking the questions. We just hear her. I like that there weren’t any chapters and that it was written in dialect. That really helped me feel like I was sitting at the table hearing her tell the story. There are trigger warnings for abuse and discussion of sexual assault. I stopped reading the book for a while because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue, but I picked it back up and was pleased that there were no sexual assault scenes on page. It was discussed, but not portrayed. I appreciated that.

Overall this was better than I expected. I really came to appreciate Dolores and Vera. They had difficult decisions and difficult consequences, but they tried to do the best they could with things as they were at the time.

I wanted more of the tea house, but the focus was more on the characters. We see quite a bit about how they all get to where they are. There are some surprises about who they are and how they got to where they are. Now that I know all that about them, I want to read the next one to see what is going to happen next.