Started: 06/05/22
Finished: 20/05/22
Spoilers: No
Characters
The characters continue to be engaging and fully realised people. Hilo does some very questionable things, (when does he not?) but I'm loving how naturally he's stepped into the role of father. Shae has many difficult decisions to make (in fact this book is pretty damn hard on her). And Anden it's growing, finding himself and his independence, free from the clan.
Hilo, Shae, and Anden continue to be the main POV characters, with the odd thrown-in POV of others every now and again. These three make excellent leads as they are each so very different from the other. It would be impossible to mistake one POV for another. Each have their own 'voice' and it becomes immediately obvious on the page who we're following at any given time.
Despite these three power-house characters, I think Wen really shines in this book. She becomes a real contender for best character in the book. Bold, yet not without fear, but doing what needs to be done. Hilo may be the pillar, but there are many moments when it feels like Wen is the one holding everyone up. What a fucking trooper.
Setting
This time we get to explore beyond the reaches of Kekon and it was so fascinating to see the differences in culture, especially as we see much of this through Anden's eyes, who's newly experiencing this change alongside us.
It was also very interesting to see the political bridges being built overseas with the No Peak clan. And yet, despite all that, returning to Janloon feels like going home.
Plot
So I'd easily say this is as good as, if not better than the first book. It certainly doesn't suffer from second book syndrome, which is praise enough for any sequel.
So deeply rooted in politics, these books require quite a bit of focus in order to follow all the threads. There's a lot to take in and keep track of between the various clans and crime syndicates, and government and military officials. Thankfully Lee is a good enough writer that this never becomes a problem and it's fairly easy to follow what's what.
I'll admit, something that always seemed to jar me was the time jumps. Months can pass between chapters and then It's casually mentioned that events that happened at the start of the book were years ago, and I'd be like, wait what, five years? Seriously? that only just happened though. I dunno, was just a bit weird for me.
The ending was pretty gorgeous. Y'know, for such a violent book, I wasn't expecting such a soft ending. A really lovely change of pace.
Writing Style
Fonda Lee is a talented writer. This is a politically complicated story and she does a remarkable job of not only effortlessly weaving all these threads together, but doing so in a way that doesn't cloud the reader's perception of what going on. The writing is never confusing, despite everything that going on.
Her prose is expressive, without being too flowery and muddying up the narrative with metaphor or self-indulgent syntax. This series so far has been an incredibly clean, crisp, and concise read, saying everything it needs to say without being obnoxiously verbose. Truly fantastic work.
Final Impression
As I said before, this could very easily be better than the first book. I haven't decided yet. But from what I hear online, book three is the best one in the series. I'm very excited to read it and see how all this is going to end. I've grown quite fond of these characters and only want the best for them, but knowing their violent tendencies and dangerous lifestyle, I already know it's not going to be as easy as that.
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