I made the mistake of starting this on the train ride to work this morning and it's quite frankly astonishing that I actually got any work done today, since I kept stealing time to read this. It's an excellent follow-up to "Prince of Air and Darkness", and sets a really great stage for "The Iron Crown", and overall it's quite enjoyable on its own.

The story is heartbreaking. It's cute. It’s sweet. It’s surprising. I can't remember it really being funny, but it did make me grin pretty wildly a lot. I love me some good fae stories, and this one sits in the halls of the greats with how it plays with the usual cast of fae. I love all the characters, particularly Aislinn. Wish we'd seen more of Titania, but Oberon was all right.

It also reminded me a lot of Sarah Monette's "Doctrine of Labyrinths" series. There are a lot of similar elements in the relationship between the protagonists of both stories, and even a few very similar story events and plot points, down to the magic used (and what the magic does), conversations the characters have, and political intrigue. Which was great, cause I love "Doctrine of Labyrinths" and this was basically more of that, but with the fae this time.

I guess I get sort of spoilery after this but it's really only with something anyone who's read a basic monogamous romance novel, or average monogamous m/m romance novel with two protagonists, should be able to figure out. But fair warning anyway.

My primary criticism is that, like book 1, it seems to kind of rush along a bit too quickly. I can't quite explain how it does that (and it's not because I read it too fast), and in book 1 it felt more obvious because Finn and Roarke kept switching between 'enemies but also crushing on each other' to 'hopelessly in love' and then like TRULY MADLY DEEPLY IN LOVE with no apparent explanation, and that's... well it doesn't quite happen like that here, but it gets close. I think it's easier to digest this book because Sebastian and Slaine weren't purportedly 'enemies' at some point, like Roarke and Finn. The build-up to book 1 makes it sound like that was the primary focus of the story, and it sort of is, but they get into 'basically soulmates' territory really fast. In book 2, Sebastian and Slaine are allies for a good chunk of time, and hesitant allies into lovers is a bit more believable, at least to me, than 'basically blood enemies to lovers'. So that helps with some of the 'we're soulmates now' timeline fudging in book 2. Even though even that doesn't explain it because I love and write plenty of enemies to lovers stories... so I guess maybe the problem with book 1 was they seem to jump past the "we're going to ignore this aspect and just be in love" or something. Book 2's falling love timeline is also better. Possibly because the timeline isn't so crammed full of flashbacks like book 1. Not that flashbacks are bad, but they made the story timeline a bit confusing, so that didn't help things.

Another problem with the sense of 'rush' might be in the use of the limited first person perspective, and how there's almost no dialogue, comparatively, between flashbacks, inner-monologue plotting over politics, thinking about injuries... It's not necessarily a terrible thing, but the relatively simplified world structure with emphasis on random complex points (e.g., how fiefdoms work) makes it a bit of a 'huh'. Action is relatively infrequent in comparison to, say... inner monologuing, which makes things happen really fast.

There's a few headscratchers. Maybe plot threads that got dropped and never fully cut out, like how Slaine keeps Sebastian quiet after their first battle, when I'm not sure why, and they never follow up on it, even though the story seems to indicate they should, and basic logic indicates they should. But overall, good story. Great cast. Great universe. Look forward to book 3.

If you like this series, and particularly this book, I'd suggest reading Sarah Monette's "Doctrine of Labyrinths" series. If you like the fae and m/m, I'd really suggest reading Pia Foxhall's "Fae Tales" universe stories. And of course the "Gargoyles" animated TV show does some great stuff with some of the same fae. ( )

This is a little slow until it isn't, and the end will leave you needing the next book, in a good way. The worldbuilding continues to be impressive.

CW: kidnapping, torture with blood ( )

I liked it, but not as much as the first book. There was too much war-talk and not enough romance, in my opinion. Also, Seb and Slaine were just too sweet sometimes; I missed Roar and Finn’s snark. ( )

While I liked the first book, I found this one immensely more enjoyable and overall better quality. The setting is entirely in the Sidhe which makes it like the traditional fae stories that I enjoy, akin to my favourite author Holly Black, and the characters Sebastian and Duine/Sláine are more memorable and engaging than I found Roark or Phineas. You can really get a sense that the author had a better grasp on the characters and the world she was creating.
While Sebastian appeared as a character in [b:Prince of Air and Darkness|41550787|Prince of Air and Darkness (The Darkest Court, #1)|M.A. Grant|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543531041l/41550787._SY75_.jpg|64825586] as one of the roommates, I didn't remember him that much and he wasn't a major or developed character. Grant gave him a much richer backstory than was unexpected with good effect.
I can't wait to read the next and final book, to learn about the third and youngest son of Mab. ( )

4.25 stars! I liked this book a lot. I liked book one but this really took this series to another level.

I think generally, I just enjoyed the plot of this book more than book one. I like that we're completely in the Faerie courts for this one. I liked how the set up of this book made for an increased level of protectiveness between Seb and Slaine. I love that mutual protectiveness in a romance and it was done super well here. The plot did slow down for me a bit in the later half when the more war stuff happened because that topic is personally less interesting for me but the relationship stuff was still really well done in that part.

I really enjoyed Seb and Slaine, but especially Slaine. We have one sense of him from book one that changes when we see him in this book and I really enjoyed getting to know him in this book. I enjoyed the relationship he developed with Seb right away. Even though it developed quickly, it felt very real and I really believed in the strength in of their relationship. I also think this author does a great job with complex family dynamics. You like the characters when you read about their relationship but you can still see the dark side of them in the ways they sometimes they interact with their family. It makes for a really interesting dynamic both with the family relationships and romantic relationships.

This book totally hooked me. It was the first book in a while where I really wanted to be reading them all the time. I liked book one but I really liked this one and I definitely want to read book three and see where this story ends up. ( )