Made with love
© Victoria Gryson 2024
War is building. Blood is spilling. And the gods are not pleased.
Casia has survived her brother’s attempts to crush her and her growing army, but the battle for their empire is just beginning. Bitter and wounded, carrying the curse of a dark and dangerous upper-god, and desperate for more allies, she charges northward to seek the elves who once walked alongside the divine beings.
The elven Court of Moreth holds knowledge. Secrets. And power. The kind of power that could shift all of Casia’s wars in her favor. If she can survive the dangerous politics and treacherous magic of the elf-kind.
While these outer battles rage, so too do the ones within. Elander is losing what remained of his divinity. His court. His powers. His grasp on what he once was and what he once knew. But he’s determined to keep fighting, gathering his own ancient allies and working to aid Casia in her wars. He lost her once. He won’t do it again.
But his devotion to her may be the very thing that destroys him.
And when that destruction comes, it comes with a twist—one that could change their entire world.
Note to self: a busy schedule is no reason not to read a really good book!
Note to self 2: sleep is apparently overrated 😀
We moved a lot, a lot in this instalment! Like, seriously… I thought we were all over the place in the second book, but that one had nothing on this instalment 😀 That said, it wasn’t jarring, instead, it was pretty cool, seeing all these new environments from Casia’s eyes. As we’ve come to expect from the author, all scenes and environments were well written with enough details to let our minds focus on the story.
What I like so much about the author’s books, is that there is a really great depth to all the characters. We go deep, beyond the normal hopes and fears and what they want for their future.
We encountered many new characters, some benevolent, some absolutely not. And at the moment I’m wondering who we haven’t met yet from the pantheon 😀
Casia is cursed by the Rook god, Elander is slowly losing his divinity and the enemy always seems to be one step ahead. Our tight-knit group of adventurers all grow with each battle, each foe they face, knowing they will need everything they can get before the end. But will it be enough? Ahhh, this book had me in tears… truly, well written.
While there is a lot of action going on, it felt a bit slower than the previous instalment. The flow was pretty good though, weaving the story effortlessly throughout.
The book was well written with no (noticeable) errors.
It is 443 pages long, spread out over 39 chapters and told from primarily Casia’s point of view (though there are some Elander parts in between as well).
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book and I love this series, or rather, this series and this world the author created for us. The depth of all the characters and worldbuilding is really well done. An inspiration! Oh and of course I recommend you to read this series… what are you waiting for?!
© Victoria Gryson 2024