3.5 stars
As soon as I finished The Keeper of Night I immediately logged into NetGalley to see if they had the next book in the series. I checked every day for at least a month if not longer and was so excited when I was finally approved for the book. I needed to know what would happen next.

Minor spoilers below.

The Empress of Time picks up about ten years after the events of the Keeper of Night. When you're an immortal death goddess time doesn't really matter. Not much has changed for poor Ren, she's still searching for her brother and is still barely in control of the Shinigami. In other news Ren's reaper "friends" (including her main nemesis Ivy) from the first book are back and meaner than ever. Luckily she has an ally in the moon god Tsukuyomi (who eerily resembles Ren's deceased fiancé Hiro) who seems to be Ren's voice of reason. Ren, Tsukuyomi, an assorted crew of Shinigami and Yokai demons (who may or may not be tricksters) travel around Japan meeting other gods, pissing people off (mostly Ren) and generally wreaking havoc. Ren figures out a way to deal with the Reapers and bring harmony to her death court. Baker wraps up the duology in a satisfying but ambiguous ending leaving room for other character to potentially have their own stories.

While I enjoyed this book a lot I felt like there was something lacking. The last book was fast paced and exciting from the very beginning but it took a little while for this book to get moving. I also thought Ren might have matured a little more especially since it's been ten years between the events of the last book and this book. Ren still has a teenage perspective which might appeal to some readers but can also be slightly frustrating. I also thought there were some missed opportunities with the return of Ren's brother Neven. I really thought Neven was going to be evil after spending all the time in the deep darkness. His return also felt very anti-climactic and I was waiting for something to happen. I did enjoy Ren coming into her own as a death goddess and dealing with her issues of being mixed race. I also loved meeting the other gods and learning a little more about Japanese mythology. Overall I enjoyed The Empress of Time and getting to wrap up Ren's journey and I am looking forward to other works by this author.

I was provided a free copy of this book from NetGalley.

conclusion to the duology, questions answered, the first book was a lot stronger and created a very high-stake expectation from 2nd book. I love the introduction and deep dove into Japanese culture.
this read is very different from other works in the genre and frankly gave me what I was looking for.

It's dark, it's wonderful, it is mythical and yet pretty human, it's gory, the characters are morally grey, and it is cool.
Japanese-Inspired dark fantasy with a perfectly interwoven quest.
Solid 4.3 for me.

n this riveting sequel to The Keeper of Night, a half Reaper, half Shinigami soul collector must defend her title as Japan’s Death Goddess from those who would see her—and all of Japan—destroyed.

Death is her dynasty.

Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But Reapers have recently been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge.

Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll only help Ren if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand.

Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her in the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.

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The second and final installment for a duology. I don't like the first book and this book happens to be the same. It's dark and twisty.
Thank you Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC!

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Picking up a decade after where THE KEEPER OF NIGHT left off, THE EMPRESS OF TIME starts with Ren (now the Goddess of Death), still searching for her brother Neven, while also preparing for Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, who is coming to Japan to seek out her revenge against Ren.

Overall I enjoyed the plot and band of characters from THE KEEPER OF NIGHT better, but THE EMPRESS OF TIME is a satisfying conclusion to this duology that does give character development and expands upon the events that happened in the first book.

This is a good series to hand to someone who is interested in reading more about Japanese mythology without a romantic arc being the focal point of the plot. The Keeper of Night series is much more about siblings and finding a place to belong than it is about Ren falling in love (there's some of that, but romantic love does not drive the plot).

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.

The Empress of Time is the sequel to Kylie Lee Baker's phenomenal YA Fantasy novel, The Keeper of Night. I really loved that novel (my review here), which featured Ren, whose father was a British Reaper and whose mother was a Japanese Shinigami, and who fled Britain with her fully Reaper brother after harming a noble Reaper family and attempted to find the home she never had with the Shinigami of Japan. However, things don't go according to plan, and even though Ren attempts to complete the three tasks (and the Japanese Yokai she encounters along the way) the Japanese Death God Izanami sets her upon in order to be accepted into their ranks, she never really finds that acceptance...and her determination to prove herself at any cost leads her to a devastating ending. It's a truly tremendous novel, which surprises often, and deals with both Japanese mythology and themes of fitting in, of love and family, and of the feeling of being a foreigner due to being not "pure" of blood or of not being the same type of people as the locals and how wrong such treatment is.

The Empress of Time follows that book's devastating ending, and once again sets Ren on a quest through various parts of Japanese mythology, this time the myths of its Gods, and it works tremendously once more as it concludes the duology on an excellent note. Once again we see Ren struggling with her failure to gain acceptance, despite all the power she has acquired, an her struggle with loneliness and regret as her worst enemies from her past, the British Reapers, finally come after her in Japan. But this time, even as things once again surprise in ways I did not expect, we get a conclusion that satisfying finishes this duology and really hits the themes of how acceptance is something you find all around you from the family you make even if the society around you is too prejudiced to realize it should give it. It's great, is what I'm saying, without spoiling.

Note: I read the first few chapters in audiobook format, and the reader was excellent. And so while I didn't continue the novel in that format, I would recommend it to anyone seeking an audiobook.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1 AFTER THE JUMP: \

----------------------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------------

Once Ren thought it possible to have the acceptance she craved - to have a place she could be accepted by the populace as one of them, and not some half-breed (either Half-Reaper or Half-Shinigami), where she and her beloved brother Neven could live together in peace and exercise their roles reaping human soles wherever that was...and where she could possibly even find someone to love, like Hiro, the Shinigami-esque being who once spoke kindly to her, helped her, and even proposed to her. But that was before she killed Hiro for throwing Neven into the Deep Darkness, before she became the new Japanese Death Goddess by doing so after Hiro killed the original goddess Izanami, and before she realize that even as a goddess, the Japanese shinigami would still not accept her as anything but a foreign usurper. Even worse, now that she is a goddess, Ren is blocked by a barrier placed by the supreme Japanese god Izanagi from entering the Deep Darkness to search for and rescue Neven. And so, for the last ten years, Ren has committed heresy, taking human souls before their time (evil ones if she can find them) in order to grow stronger, so that she can finally breach the barrier to the Deep Darkness to rescue her brother. But the barrier still remains strong and Ren is losing hope.

And then an impossible visiter arrives, Tsukuyomi, the Japanese God of the Moon, with a message for her: British Reapers have been sighted on Japanese shores, killing some of her Shinigami. Even worse, Ren's old nemesis Ivy, the reaper girl who abused her until she fought back that one last time, has ascended to godhood herself and now commands the Reapers...and is now on her way to Japan to get her revenge on Ren. To stop her, Ren needs the assistance of other Japanese gods, but they will only help her if she once again fulfills a task for them, to obtain an artifact long lost to time. Yet Ren only has so long to search for help among the myths of Japanese Gods and Yokai before the Reapers arrive, and Ren's past childhood and current relations continue to haunt her, and make her wonder if her quest is pointless, with only more misery at the end of her current path......

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The Keeper of Night was a tremendous novel, not least because it refused to take the easy or traditional way through its posed questions and cliffhangers. Ren never did find acceptance among the Shinigami of Japan just as she never did with the Reapers, she never realized until it was too late how much she was ostracizing her brother - who himself was now ostracized as a foreigner for following Ren - and her actions resulted in her killing the man she kind of love and losing to a fate possibly worse than death that very brother, into the Deep Darkness from which she can't follow. It was a dark tremendous ending about the dangers of searching for acceptance at any cost, and it worked all the better because Ren never did turn away despite all the chances she was given from the extreme path she was being asked to follow, committing more and more dark acts until the end, when she was left seemingly with ashes.

The Empress of Time is in some ways a similar novel. Again Ren is forced on a quest to find a way to get what she seeks, the destruction of the Reaper fleet this time around, which sends her through Japanese mythology, although this time the mythology is more based upon the myths of the Gods and Goddesses rather than on the Yokai and other beings she encountered before (who mind you, are still very prominent in the setting). Again she winds up with a character whose advise and position is possibly questionable, who might be a love interest, in Tsukuyomi, and who the story hints heavily might be lying about parts of his past and could betray Ren or lead her astray....as Ren acquires several other companions (who I won't spoil) who conflict with him and his advice. And again Ren feels very much like she has to do anything to achieve her goals, even if now she's far less proud of it due to knowing what her brother might think of her. The Empress of Time does all this really well, developing Ren and the other characters in interesting ways, portraying the Japanese gods in ways that will work really well whether you know the myths the story is referencing or whether you have no clue about them at all (I'm somewhere closer to the latter, if not totally ignorant).

But like its predecessor, The Empress of Time zigs when you might expect it to zag, and the result is a novel that takes some really very different turns than its predecessor, with the characters learning from past actions and the story not turning out the same. We again have a story dealing with themes of acceptance amongst people who don't consider you to be one of them because of race or national origin, but here we find Ren figuring out how to deal with that isn't fighting constantly in a hopeless quest to impress such people, but to find love and acceptance among those you care about and who can learn to accept you; here we have a potential romance that goes far differently from how you'd expect; and here we have memories of abusive childhoods that a character learns to get past, and which leads Ren to discover the strength she never knew she had. I'm coming dangerously close to spoilers here, so I won't say more, but needless to say, this is a story that comes to an INCREDIBLY satisfying ending, which may not be as dark or unusual as the prior book, but which works just as well - that is so so well.

Just a highly recommended book - great characters, great setting and themes, and great plotting. Really loved this duology and recommend it highly, and this will again be on my Lodestar ballot for next year.

This is the perfect follow up to The Keeper of Night. My expectations were high, but this did not let me down.

Like the first book, The Empress of Time had lots of world building. I have little to not familiarity with Japanese folklore, so I found myself learning a lot - I had to pause every few pages to look something up! I love Ren as a morally grey character and watching her develop as she embraces herself and deals with a lot of trauma.

Highly recommend both editions of this duology!

This conclusion to The Keeper of the Night duology lives up to the first installment. The first was dark and wicked just as good as this one with twisting turns and the characters are relatable. (Yes. Relating to a God who can never find her place it's that hard—for me anyway.)

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is now the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her life as a god is not dissimilar to her regular life. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. The Reapers beyond are not scared of her and have been spotted in Japan. Her brother Neven is still in the deep darkness. She has no true allies.

The god of the moon comes to the rescue. Ren wants none of that. He looks like the fiancee she had to kill and doesn't trust him at all. But on his advice, they appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to crash the Reaper's ships. But he’ll help Ren only if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago which seem hopeless. But with a happy surprise, Ren may just make it after all.

Kylie Lee Baker has lovingly painted this Eastern world whether it's the streets of Japan, the darkness of Yomi itself, or visiting other gods. I loved that I was transported from my mundane world into a world of magic, death and life. I was excited to see the seas as well as the home of the son goddess. The family story wound through these places enrich the world and gave it sentimental feelings.

The characters are still the same yet different enough that there is character growth. Each entity is complex with a variety of feelings and allegiances. It is this aspect that keeps you on your toes. Who is actually helping Ren? Who is working against her? It could be anyone.

The Empress of Time is both sad and hopeful with great action sequences. This is a great book so make sure to pick the first one up when you grab this one.

TW: Gore, violence, discrimination, racism, death & sorrow.

"I spent years becoming a monster because I loved him."
Oh, as soon as I read that, I knew I was in for pain because it was the most real and saddest truth.
This book captures the emotion of rage, devotion and sorrow so well, having pieces of each within each other as you read this fantasy book. Ren became a monster to get her brother back, all to the point where you don't know if she can be redeemed or if we want her to because you can see in a way how she is justified; the reapers wish for her death and are hunting her and won't let her have peace, she was betrayed and lost her brother, and her reign as a Goddess is tainted because her people don't respect her because of her mixed heritage.

Also, seeing how much the Goddess role has affected her and how the Gods distrust her yet want to change her to be like them subtly.

4,5/5 stars

Following Ren’s journey through survival and identity, this book takes place 10 years after the events of the first installment.

For a better context, since this is the second installment, I gave the first book 5 stars.

As the last book ended on a dramatic ending, I was expecting to pick up with our characters where we last left off, but it was not the case. As I do understand that entering the second book 10 years after said ending might upset some readers, I really did enjoy the time gap. I still very much enjoyed the characters as well as some new characters that were introduced.

I like the writing and how the author structures Ren’s journey and send her off on a wild goose chase. I feel like she reveals just enough to keep the reader’s interest up. I love to follow gods and to read about them as imperfect almost human-like flawed creatures. But as a new goddess, I have to admit I was expecting Ren to go through a more significant change in her pesonnality and decision-making as a new goddess. I was expecting her to be much more powerful but she was still powerless and kept on relying on others to save her.

Other than that, I still loved how this story developped and mostly ended. I loved the twist and turns that it offered and really enjoyed the reading experience. It is the reason why I am giving this book 4,5 stars. I recommend it to people who love to read stories about myths, mythologie, gods and godesses, as well as journey type stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the Aithor and Publisher for the ARC! A truly riveting and satisfying end to this duology. Japanese folklore is a passion of mine and this story was woven to perfection. So vivid and immersive and great characters.

3.75

I think this was a very fitting conclusion to this duology, but I did not enjoy it as much as the first book.

For one, this book takes place 10 years after the end of the first book, which ended in a huge cliffhanger. And to some extent I understand that choice, like these characters are essentially immortal so a decade is pretty much nothing to them and we needed time to build up to the conflict in this book, and we do get an explanation of what happened in the intervening years, but I would much rather have seen it.

I also felt like the traveling across Japan on a quest aspect of the story was too similar and therefore less effective than the first book. While I appreciated the addition of Tsukuyomi and learning more about him and the Japanese gods, it didn't really hold the same interest to me as the Yoke in Book 1 and it felt more like Ren was scrambling and not like there was an actual plan or purpose.

I did love the discussions around familial relationships and identity- seeing different examples of sibling dynamics and seeing more of Ren trying to figure out her place as a biracial woman.

Overall, I think this a really solid YA duology and would highly recommend to anyone looking for darker fantasies or folklore/mythology based fantasies. I look forward to seeing what Baker writes next!

Does the finale stick the landing? You bet your butt it does!

I inhaled the first book in this duology earlier this month and book two was evidently no exception to that. I opted for the audiobook again, and big kudos to Rebecca Yeo for doing such a fabulous job! She told Baker's story really well and it was so difficult for me to stop reading.

The sequel picks up, surprisingly, ten years after the shocking events of the first book. Ren is Queen of the Dead in Japan, Hiro is dead, and she has spent the last decade devouring soul after soul after soul, hoping just one more will be enough for the darkness to give her back her brother, Nevin.

As before, this book is chockfull of morally grey characters, dark and gory scenes, and so much incredible mythology. I really did love it as much as the first, especially because we got to meet more yokai and multiple gods. There was a group of ghost pirates that showed up and honestly, they were my absolute favourites! I laughed so hard in that scene. And Tsukuyomi was a wonderful addition. He looks just like Hiro, being his brother and all, but he was so much better as a person and for Ren in every single way. Of course, Tamamo No Mae was great to have with a bigger role. The kitsune and Nevin are so cute together and I love the twist that comes up.

As with the first book, Ren's desire to fit into a place she can belong as a half Japanese Shinigami half British Reaper is just as much at the forefront. Queen of the Underworld yet neither her Shinigami nor the other gods take her seriously. When the new Reaper God of Death is found to be coming to take Japan from her, Ren has her work cut out for her to find allies. I wanted her to win so badly. You would think that by having the light powers of a Shinigami and the time stopping power of a Reaper she would be considered fearsome, but all they see is a foreigner and a young girl in over her head not worth helping. And I love the juxtaposition of how she's seen as useless to some, and a villain to those she loves most. And a villain she is at times. Her actions and how she justifies them can be quite dark, but that made me really love her character development.

The ending has a touch of bittersweetness to it, but I really liked that. I see Baker has another series coming out and I will definitely be lining up to read that one the first chance I can!

From my blog post & I spoke about both The Empress Of Time & The Keeper Of Night audiobook but applies to the E-ARC: This is an incredible duology. I listened to The Keeper Of Night in order to get ready to read the E-ARC of The Empress Of Time and the narrator really does a phenomenal job. I could seriously listen to her talk/read all day long because her voice has this resonate quality to it. She read both audiobooks so I kind of knew what I would get in terms of vocal performance but I wasn’t ever bored of her voice or the story when I got to TEOT. I read the E-ARC first and while I was in the middle of reading it, I got approved for the ALC so I did an audio re-read. While I knew what happened in the story, it’s was almost like experiencing it for the first time and I appreciate that as someone who is really not much of a re-reader. As a heads up, TEOT picks up 10 years after the end of TKON but it isn’t disconnected from the first book at all. You also get to meet a bunch of new characters while seeing some old ones. It’s truly a journey and I loved every moment of it, even the points that made me flinch (TW: violence & xenophobia).

Much like with the first book in this series (The Keeper of Night), I really enjoyed this because I love Baker's writing. I think this novel perfectly balances the more horror-y elements (gore, nightmares, death, darker themes) with lighter humour and mythological aspects that I absolutely adore. The imagery and atmosphere is beautiful and that is completely due to the talent of Baker as a writer. The intrigue of the novel I found worked just as well with the first novel, and I really enjoyed how morally gray Ren is as a character. The decisions she makes are not always the best, but that's why I love her. I think this novel could have picked up exactly where it left off from the novel before, and I think it might have worked a bit better. As it starts 10 years later, I didn't necessarily feel as though the characters themselves had changed over that time and it made me feel like that time spent apart really provided no substance or difference to the overall plot. I did really enjoy that the theme of Ren's identity and belonging stayed prevalent within this novel and loved how it ended!

It might be more of a 3.5.

I’ve been pretty bad this year at keeping up with series and that’s what happened with this finale/sequel and I couldn’t read it before the release despite having both a digital and audio arc. The Keeper of Night was one of my top favorite reads of last year, so when I finally felt in the mood for this book, I finished it way quicker than I expected.

While the first book was about Ren’s descent into darkness, I think this was about what she is going in the darkness now that she is all alone. I can’t say that she has entirely become cruel or that she is a very bad person, but her compassion mostly only extends to Neven and what she can do to save him. The love depicted in this series is all angsty and gut wrenching, but no way any less impactful while reading. I don’t know if I like Ren a lot anymore but there’s no doubt that I still wanted her to succeed and protect her brother, gain the acceptance that she so craves, and make a home for herself.

But the plot itself didn’t feel as exciting as I found the first book. It almost was like Ren didn’t know much about what she had to do and was scrambling across Japan to figure it out - which felt too reminiscent of the first book. I also think meeting all the different Yokai in the first book felt exciting, so there wasn’t much new world building this time. Meeting a couple of new gods was fun but again I got the feeling it didn’t add much to the story.

Overall, while I did enjoy following the characters - old and new - again and see what they’ve been upto, the not very substantial plot slightly disappointed me. I think I just had too many expectations after loving the first one a lot. But I did love the narration of Rebecca Yeo in the audiobook and she made it a pretty fun and quick listen. Despite my conflicting thoughts about this book, I’m still definitely looking forward to the author’s new series next year.

I want to start by saying that I didn’t like this book as much as I liked The Keeper of Night. But that was unsurprising. I love The Keeper of Night way too much to expect most other YA Fantasies (the only genre I like less than YA fantasy is romance) to live up to it. I think The Keeper of Night would’ve been fine as a stand-alone, but I’m relieved that The Empress of Time didn’t feel like a random, unnecessary addition to Wren Scarborough’s story. This book was great! It felt like a natural continuation of The Keeper of Night. I didn’t feel like any aspects of the plot were unnecessary fluff, and that’s something I enjoyed about The Keeper of Night as well.

I was relieved to find out that Wren didn’t become nicer than she was in the first book, because I’ve found that characters who are terrible people are often made to become nicer people as a series continues. If that had happened with Wren it would’ve gone entirely against her character. I know to some of you it may sound silly that I’m basically saying I’m relieved an author understood who to write a character that she created, but I don’t find main characters like Wren very often in YA books and I love her, so I was so worried she’d change. Also the love interest and romantic plot didn’t annoy me, and it’s always impressive when a book can pull that off.

My main complaint is the main one I had with The Keeper of Night as well: Wren spends too much time telling us that she’s not a good person. I don’t need to be told that. Her actions constantly demonstrate it. So that just felt repetitive and unnecessary.

I love this duology and I recommend it.

The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker is a great follow-up to her first novel The Keeper of the Night. This book, set in the same world starts 10 years after the events of the first book. In this book, some of the questions of the last book are answered and the world is fleshed out more. I think if you enjoyed The Keeper of the Night, The Empress of Time is a must-read.

Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing an e-Arc of The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker for my review.

Keeper of the Night sent me spiralling down into the deep darkness, crashing through each layer of the Earth. It was an ending that left me yearning to know what would come next, and with that I eagerly devoured Empress of Time.

We begin here: ten years have passed. Shrouded in the inky darkness of death and night, Ren continues to search for Neven with a longing so fierce that she inconsolably shatters the image of what a death goddess should be. Themes from the first book persist here. Ren continues to battle with her sense of belonging, her sense of home. Ren paid for her place as a goddess of death and she paid for it in blood and betrayal. Yet, the Shinigami that are supposed to bow to and respect her watch her with narrowed, begrudging eyes, uttering the word foreigner under their breaths. Where Keeper of Night explored what it means to be biracial and feel unwelcome in a place that is meant to be home, Empress of Time continues that exploration. And it is here that we get to watch Ren grow deeper into her morally grey characteristics.

When Reapers are spotted in Japan, a race against the clocks goes underway. Again Ren is faced with taking on a world that just seems to reject her. She will face her enemies and she will do what she needs to do to achieve her goals. She is confidently who she is: a goddess of death. She wavers for no one and will not think twice about reaching into your chest and devouring your heart…that is with the exception of Neven.

The sibling relationship in this book was a little slice of light in a place full of vast darkness. Complimented with the other characters of this book, it was a treat to watch Ren grow into herself and learn to let parts of herself go too. I felt that the characters were well developed and having read Keeper of the Night, I felt a connection to the characters. I think that the folklore and myth added to that character development and connection. It’s a special part of this book – perhaps my favourite part, as it not only impacts the characters, but the entire world that Baker creates.

Final note … I think I liked this book more than the first, and in terms of a sequel to a duology, Empress of Time felt well thought out and left me feeling satisfied. I quite liked the Author's note at the end, that was a nice touch that left something to ponder.

Thank you to the publisher for providing with me an ARC. I’m leaving this review voluntarily because books are cool!

I’m always so nervous when it comes to the second book in a duology, but I LOVED the way this book wrapped up the story. This duology gifted an abundance of Japanese mythology and folklore, and I am absolutely obsessed! We’re introduced to so many Yokai (supernatural spirits from Japanese folklore) and I loved learning about each one of their stories. I can’t wait to see what other treasures Kylie Lee Baker gifts us in the future with her writing.

Without giving away spoilers, The Empress of Time picks back up 10 years after the ending of book one and takes us on another journey of reaping souls and encountering Japanese spirits and gods. Our FMC Ren fights to restore the balance in her world and protect her new country at all costs.

If you don’t mind a bit of gore and can appreciate a YA about reapers, I would highly recommend this duology. I’m ready for my next book about Japanese folklore.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Inkyard Press for providing me with an E-Arc of this book to review.

Thanks to Inkyard Press for the copy of this ARC!

Kylie Lee Baker can sure write a dark book! I'm here for it, and really enjoyed following Ren's journey in this book - which I did not so patiently await because of that book one cliffhanger. This was similarly dark with scary creatures, but this time, we had to just hope and wait to see if Neven would come back - or at least that's what I did because he's my favorite. I really enjoyed the action and twists toward the end, and was satisfied with how this duology ended.