The Rising Storm

The face collapsed in on itself, the entire husk crumbling to dust before his eye, and for the first time since he was a child, Stellan Gios was afraid...

The best thing about the Rising Storm is that the battle of the fair (which makes up like half of the book) really succeeds in creating a great sense of claustrophobia through the use of the Nihil war cloud. It makes every chapter therein feel like a desparate struggle only to be given one of the most satisfying moments to read so far, where Stellan finally gets into contact with multiple Jedi, all calling in one by one and proving that the strength of the Jedi truly is their unity.

But then when you think you're finally out of the death surrounding the book, the High Republic team really through a curveball and have the nerve to end the second book with the very same heartbreak as the first but now even worse. How dare they!