Another really good episode, one that see's Ixkaab and Vincent get into sword fight set up by the deceitful Diane, ultimately will grant her an enemy in Vincent, you know it's in the realm of possibilities that will bring her down in the end, time will tell as he recovers and will it include Ixkaab or not. Plus Tess the hand stronger than what I thought, one that shouldn't be under estimated and nice change from being more of the background so to speak.


Thanks to netgalley and Serial Box for the advance ARC copy.

POV – 3rd person, multi character, often omni-present
Would I read it again – Yes!
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Serial, Historical, Coming-of-Age, Queer
Content Warning – mild violence, sexual situations, adultery/cheating, prostitution
Orientations – MM, MF, FF



** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



I love the world building of this series, and the talented writers who bring it all together, but I was left heartbroken by the events of Season One and I'm hopeful that Season Two will at least offer some relief from that. I'm coming straight into this, just an hour after finishing Season One, so it's all fresh in my mind. There are still the infrequent issues of editing mistakes, changes of tense that don't always make sense, as were in Season One, but the recurring issue of font change has been eliminated, which is a relief.

Because of the format Netgalley sent, or perhaps because of how Kindle interprets them, the formatting for the first half of this series of ARC's was terrible. The documents had either one or two lines then a line of gapping, repeated throughout and it wasn't only hard on the eyes, but made it more difficult to follow in terms of flow. The second half were much better formatted.

~

Episode 12: Smoke and Ashes, by Mary Anne Mohanraj

★★★★★
Pages: 38

Well, well. Lots of intrigue going on here, with everyone coming together into one nice littler package, preparing for the big finale.
It was nice to get Esha's POV again, and to see just what kind of 'help' she was able to offer Diane. It's just so sad to see Rafe going back to that melancholy way he'd been when he joined his father's firm only to find Will. Now that he's found him, he's had to lose him again. If only he'd been able to whisk Will off to Ixkaab's homeland, where they could both do what their hearts wanted. Rafe could start his school there, and Will could recover. But, Will and Rafe's fates are still uncertain, right now.
As as Florian and Shade's. If Tess is really going to do any good, she'll need a lot of help, and just as much cunning.
Just as Vincent is going to need Reza to help him recover from his unfortunate situation.
Good grief! The people of Riverside don't half get themselves into trouble, do they?

Favourite Quote

“He couldn't do this. He couldn't just sit here, eating the duchess's food and drinking her ale, knowing what she had done to his Will, what she threatened to do to Micah...the woman was a monster!”

I know there were other plot developments and scenes in this chapter/episode, but for me, the true point of it was Jenny's scene at the end. This is a Jenny I wish we could have seen more of earlier, and a character who would have made this serial much more addictive for me. Give Jenny a spin-off.

The rest of it... whatever. Jenny - awesome. I even liked her more than Diane this time.

I read it in one sitting quite riveted and can't see to read how this season ends.

I read this courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this is an extremely downbeat episode. Don't get me wrong, it's good - but a bit more depressing than I expected, as things do not turn out happily (to say the least) for quite a few of the characters.

Only one more in this 'season' - and I suspect that more unhappiness is on the way...

On to find out!

Smoke and Ashes (Tremontaine #2.12)
by Mary Anne Mohanraj
Through the smoke and the ashes Duchess Tremontaine has found the answer to her problems, if only she could translate what she has.
Vincent is injured and ill, his inflicted cut from the dual has become inflamed and will take his life if he does not have help.
The road home is not always the path we are willing to tread.