<blockquote><b><i>"The most obvious way is not always the right path.”</i></b></blockquote> Annd now we're back on track! After the second volume, I was worried about how this quartet would go, because that one was a hot mess. Thankfully, it seems like the author realized her mistakes and decided to correct them in this book! The very nonsensical romance is toned down to give way to the actual plot and the fact that there's a war going on, Nox is even tolerable and Amy is back to being the smart, fierce, no-nonsense, badass girl we've known from book one. The dynamics in this novel is also way better, I really like the idea to bring Madison back and make her into Amy's ally and friend of sorts. Also, I loved Amy mending her relationship with her mother, their scenes were so cute and for a while, I wished she would stay home. But alas, when things started to happen, I couldn't stop reading. There's lots of action here, like in the previous books, but it's well done and the moments are well-chosen, the climax is fast-paced and got me really excited and cheering for the characters. This installment also brought much-needed answers and explanations and it finally introduced the main villain of the series. There were good plot twists and the finale left me anxious to pick up the final book right away. I'm really happy with what I got here after kinda losing faith in this series, and I'm going into the conclusion with great expectations and hoping for a great ending for Oz and it's characters.