This book was such a good ending to the duology. It wrapped everything up. There was so much going on. All the action. I just love Shae. Also her friendships with Mads, Fiona and Kennan! I loved this one just as much as I loved the first one. I recommend this duology. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a good sequel. Farrow creates a world of mystery and intrigue that matches the intensity of the first book beautifully.

I didn't realize this was a second book of a series, but found it interesting and compelling without having read the first book. This touches on friendship, trust, courage and so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Goodreads for allowing me to liseten to this book. It is not a style I normally would choose for my own. It was harder for me to follow as this is the second book in the series. With that being said it was a great book to listen to. The story was nice.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

I think my favorite thing about this book was the way that it talked so much about various deep topics that really added a real-life aspect to it. It touches on grief, friendship, courage, strength, ad so much more, and I loved being able to relate to those parts even in the midst of magic and fantasy. It was refreshing to see such strong female characters and to have their stories include them saving themselves and finding their strength.

I think one of the things I struggled with in this book was the world building. I still am not sure why writing was seen as dangerous. There were just several instances where things were not fully explained and I wanted to understand more about why things were a certain way or what things meant. I do think that part got better in this book than it was in the first one!

I did like the concept of the world with a sort of alternate universe type country, and I found that really fresh and new. It was fun to think about our normal and how that might translate into a fantasy world. I loved the characters, and the romances were very adorable! They each had something unique and very sweet to add to the found family, and I loved that about them!

Overall a great fantasy duology for someone who might just be entering the world of fantasy!

4.5 stars rounded down. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

Shae and the Bards are back in this sequel of Hush, where secrets unravel and the Veil is lifted. After being betrayed by someone Shae felt was her closest ally, can she form new alliances with those she thought her enemy in order to save her land from ruin? Or will invaders seize the opportunity to conquer the weakened lands?

Now THIS is a feminist book. Hush was a big let down for me in this department, but with more than just our main character the author helps women shine. Shae is much less naive than in Hush, which adds to her development throughout the story. But the real redeemer of this duology is Kennan. She is such a powerhouse and watching her grow from scorned attempted protector to absolute badass is such a fun ride. The pacing throughout was also an improvement from the last book, propelling the story forward with world building rather than sacrificing one for the other.

Veil is a vast improvement over it's previous novel, Hush. I recommend this duology to anyone who enjoys vocal magic(think Motherland: Fort Salem) ages 10+.

I was provided a print and audio arc of this book via netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This picks up right were Hush, leaves off so I don't recommend reading this as a standalone.

Much like with the first book I felt that this had a really interesting concept with the magic system and the world, but I did feel that certain things were underdeveloped. I wanted more details and more development of certain aspects, but part of that is my own personal preference when it comes to SFF and books in general. I would have liked a better explanation of the magic system, the tellings were a really interesting concept as was "the book", but I'm still not sure how it all works. I also wanted more in the character development department. There were some inconsistencies with the relationships between characters and within the characters themselves.

I do think YA readers are very much going to enjoy this series. Overall this book has a decent plot, the magic was interesting as was the world. I did enjoy it overall but I felt like something was missing.

Veil by Dylan Farrow is the much faster paced adventurous sequel to Hush. It takes place right where Hush ends so read Hush before Veil.

Shae is with her friends hiding and looking for the Book of Days. I read and listened to this one and narrator Emily Shaffer broke my heart with Shae's pain at the loss of a loved one. The author made me gasp in shock at the reveal of one character.

There is deceit, a bit of romance, magic, undying friendship and a very satisfying end.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am afraid with the timing between when I first read Hush to the time I finished Veil, that this is why I had a hard time loving this and lends itself to my disappointment in this book.

Veil picks up right where Hush left off, but it never felt like a sequel. Instead, it felt like the second half of the first book that had to be cut for size reasons. You're thrown into the story and - if you're like me, retaining very little information about book one - you spend a large portion of this book lost and confused, trying to remember why this or that detail is important. It took a lot of googling and reading past reviews for me to wrap my head around where the second books brings us. There were definitely aspects of this I enjoyed, but with my confusion it made it hard to fully embrace this,

Thank you for this ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really liked book 1, so I was excited for book 2, but it wasn't the same experience at all. So much time has passed since I read book 1, which I think is a part of it, but I feel so disconnected from what is going on. In fact, I am not sure what is going on. It's like reading a totally different book than book 1. So it's not tracking with mme and I am unable to finish for these reasons.