If I was going to use one word to describe this book it would be: BRUTAL. Although I’m not sure what I was expecting after Children of Blood and Bone, after reading the second instalment in the Orïsha trilogy, it has left me bereft of speech. It’s a relentless storm of anger, rebellion, and hostility. I was in awe of Zelie and Amari’s actions throughout the book, and boy if you haven’t picked up this series yet, I highly encourage you to. They’re great reads and really tear down walls and expose you to the deeper questions that lurk beneath the surface. After the ending of this book, I am most certain that the final book in this trilogy is not going to be something I expect at all.

After attempting the impossible, Zelie and Amari have brought magic back to Orïsha, but their ritual had unintended consequences. When they brought the magic back, they not only did so to the maji, but to the nobles with magic ancestry too. Now Zelie is struggling to unite the Orïsha when the enemy has a power just as great as their own. When the monarchy and military unite to maintain control of Orïsha, Zelie must fight to secure Amari’s right to the throne, while protecting new maji from the wrath of the monarchy. As things begin to escalate out of control, Zelie must find a way to unite Orïsha, or watch as they each other apart.

I dove into this book with hopes that things were finally going to look up for Zelie and Amari. Instead, this is only the start of things getting much, much worse. Now that magic has returned, they also have to contend with nobility that has been given magic power. It’s an intense period for everyone. The scenes where the maji and nobility clash are so intense and bloody, and unyielding. Orïsha remains broken, and there seems no way out of this darkness. As Zelie and Amari attempt to fix things, a character emerges that shakes everything up and my goodness, I was so mad about it. I don’t want to spoil it, so if you’re curious, you’ll need to go pick it up and read it.

What I truly wasn’t expecting was the division that comes between Zelie and Amari. Wow, does it hurt both of these girls. I could see the pain that both of these girls are experiencing and empathise with both, however, neither seems to be really thinking with any sort of logic outside of winning their battles completely and without fail. Unfortunately, the tensions that rise because of their disagreements only serve to put them each in a darker place. Especially Amari. I’m not sure that either of them experience growth in this book, in all honesty, it feels as though we regress.

Everything is honestly happening so quickly in this book that I times I found myself going back and reading things again a second time because I would get a little lost. We’ve got three character’s point of view to contend with, and lots of new/old characters. However, I loved reading the battle/action scenes. They were ruthless, unapologetic, and very bloody. We have some tragic deaths that made me grip the book in horror because of the devastation that it causes our characters.

In everything there’s going on, of course we still have a bit of romantic development happening, which can arguably be for better or worse. At this point, everything is uncertain to me. I have so many theories that my brain can’t handle them all. If I’m being honest, I just want the characters that I love to be okay. Man, this book gave me a lot of feelings.