Wunderbares Buch. Wo der erste Band noch an etwas emotionaler tiefe zwischen den beiden Protagonisten fehlt, bringt dies Band zwei um so mehr mit und man kann nur schwer Aufhören zu lesen.

9,5/10 - 4,75/5 Loved the book, minor issues the series as a whole has prevent this from being 5. Okay, why the fuck did i like this book so much? This still is lowkey glorfying slavery but…. Wow I love this relationship. I love laurent. I am obsessed. I think this is one of the best books I’ve read recently. I completely understand why people love the books and also why they say you shouldn’t just read the first book. I’m glad I stuck around. -Writing- I am quite sure that part of why I like this book so much more is that the word ”fuck” is used significantly less. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely still used, but it’s not enough to make me as uncomfortable as the first one did. -Worldbuilding- We get to see more of Vere but also meet the culture of Vask, whose mountain clans are made of warrior women. The worldbuilding isn’t strong in the sense of actually painting the world and showing the places, because most of it just is your typical medieval setting, but the politics. Those are well done. Generally the world makes sense and is logical. Solid. -Characters- While book 1 made me love Damen, book 2 is making me love Laurent. I never would've thought I would be able to relate to him, but here I am. Like a flower my affection for him has blossomed and now he’s one of my favorite characters of all time. He is a menace and you never know what he’s going to do next. Also he is surprisingly funny!! Damen is still great as always. We also get more of the side characters like Jord, who I also liked a lot. -Relationships- ?!?!?!?! How did this aurhor make me accept a relationship like this?? After everything that happened in the first book??!? Here I am, desperate for any moment between those two and gasping for air whenever I think something will happen. The development is IMPECCABLE. And the tension between the two is palpable in more than one way. <spoiler> Their sex scene was so beautiful. Genuinely, it was perfect. Everything about it. The first kiss they shared before, Damen’s posessiveness. The tension because of the reveals before. And then, finally it happens and it’s tear-inducingly beautiful. I want to see Damen bottom tho. </spoiler> Personal theory <spoiler> I am so confused, I’m constantly flip-flopping between thinking Laurent knows about Damen’s identity and thinking he doesn’t know. Like, the way he acts, there are so many little details, the way he mentions Auguste in seemingly random moments, it makes me so sure that he knows. But then he goes and says he wishes Damianos had died? Honestly, at that moment I almost abandoned my theory. A moment later I was questioning myself again! He has to know, like it’s so obvious. He sent the akelians to damen!! Whom he knows to be a soldier who is suspiciously well versed in akelian politics. And he is called Damen ffs!!! Damen, who he knows had an affair with jokaste and was betrayed by Kastor. After all, Damen never lied. If my pea brain can deduct this, so can Laurent. No, he knows. I’m sure. </spoiler> -Plot/Pacing- There's much more going on in this book compared to the first one. Not only is it much longer but Damen also has more agency and power to change things. While politics remain a big part of the story, those politics now also appear on the battlefield. The gruesome scenes with the nobility are also a thing of the past now and with them the slaves or at least their constant visibility. Tension is on an all-time high. This book had me so stressed, oh my god. In a good way of course. <spoiler> A lot of the book is Damen and Laurent trying to get their shit together and survive while building up Laurent’s little army. I really enjoy stories like that. Probably the only thing I want to complain about is Damen sleeping with the vaskian women. It was just so unnecessary. But this was suuuch a minor moment, that it barely matters. The later chapters were a whirlwind again. The battle, Damen and Laurent having sex, that guys betrayal, then the message about the kid’s death and then Aimeric’s guys suicide. OOooooof. I have to say tho, Laurent’s comment abt his uncle having no one left to fuck had me lmao for a straight minute. I wanted to continue with the third book SO BAD but sadly I had to put it off for a few days. </spoiler> -Conclusion- I’m not surprised that I like this book, because the fans are nearly religious in their love of it, but I didn’t expect to love it this much. Nearly all the things I hated about the first book are absent, leaving only a fantastic relationship, a character I deeply love and top notch tension. Honestly, I think the only reason this isn’t 5 stars is because I can’t get around the slavery thing the series as a whole has. I don’t want to say this book is perfect, it still has things I’m not 100 % behind, but those aren’t many and the things I do like are so incredibly good that I am shaken.