The sequel to The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, this novel picks up shortly after where the last one left off. With that:
BELOW THERE BE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK. YE HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Kalen and Tea are still not together in the past timeline, but in the present they are together (with Kalen coming back from the dead) and are taking over the city where most of the action takes place in the past timeline. (I’ll leave that a bit vague). In the past, the prince has been put under some kind of spell, along with the decedents of the other 4 great heroes, and Tea has been accused of causing it. This is not true, of course. But the team, with the princess who is now betrothed to the prince in tow, must find a way to save the prince.
This was better than the first novel. The only reason this isn’t 100% GO READ THIS NOW is because there are some oddeties in the writing style where I couldn’t tell who was talking or what was actually being said that brought me out of the story. If not for those breaks, this book is so wonderful. We finally get some good romance, but it isn’t the focus of the novel, and we get to see all the characters grow closer to those we see in the present time.
Now, you got the warning for the spoilers. So, there are spoilers.
Fox and Tea’s relationship has always been amazing and this novel sets the stage for the modern story as we get to see why Tea wants Fox to have his own life. Seeing their family, though it was really brief, hit home that they all have separate lives from the two of them. And Fox is in love. In the modern side, we see that he puts the princess before his sister, and… that alone is enough of a reason for her to try and make him truly alive. If Fox never did that, if he had always stayed loyal to her and her alone then… the modern story might not have as much of a reason? I think that will really be resolved in the third, and final novel.
Kalen and Tea. Life goals. Particularly since we are getting to hear not just Tea but Kalen’s reaction who-knows how long after the fact, and see what they each thought or felt during that moment. And how he always loves her, and he is the one who reminds her that she is good.
The writing was, mostly, fantastic and the story was engaging and the characters wonderful. Highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone.
