The Serpent and the Wings of Night

3.5 stars

I very nearly didn't finish this book. The first half-ish just wasn't for me, and I started to get frustrated because everyone raves about it. The romance takes a long while to start up, and not in a good way, in my opinion. Like it's not an anticipation thing, it just felt like there was nothing there between the characters. It also felt a bit slow and kind of boring to me, and I wanted more of the friendship between Oraya and Mische.

Once I got into the last third, things really began to pick up and I became exponentially more interested. The romance became really good, really quickly for me, and I'm so glad it turned out that way. The twists were also really interesting. I was intrigued enough by the end that I was excited to start book 2 to see where things would go. I hope I enjoy book 2 throughout, rather than mostly at the end, like this one.

My advice if you're struggling would be to stick this one out until the end - I think it'll turn around for you as well.