This is so far the best book of the series for me. High stakes, high tension and no breaks whatsoever. It just goes and goes and goes. Everything tightens, everything that was bad gets worse. We are at a point now where I have absolutely no idea how they could possibly turn the tide and that’s a wonderful premise for the fourth and final book I think. Love it.

[4,6 stars] ..no matter how bad of a day i think i'm having — at least sabaa tahir has guaranteed that laia, elias, and helene are having a (signifcantly) worse one a side note: i really loved how slowly but shortly the presence and development of the magic (system) builds with the progression of the quartet, in doing so really easing you into this world and all of its lore ; and of course, sabaa tahir is a master at writing layered, complex characters with a depth that just makes them come alive and will have you agonisinggg over them to no end

I wanted to give this less than 5 stars because Laia and Elias spend sO MUCH TIME APART IT DRIVES ME CRAZY... but I just can't. This is another fantastic book, it's <i>that</i> good. It has everything you could possibly ask for, and I love it.

4.5 stars