I feel it is incredibly rare that I love the second book in a series as much as, or more than, the first book, but this one is on that list.

I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the world, I loved the plot, I loved the romance. I love it.

Cae and Vel are simply *chef’s kiss* and I love their dynamic and their continued growth from book one. I loved following the political plots and trying to figure out what was happening, and I loved the cast of side characters. (Here’s hoping for a book three about Asrien, please and thank you….)

Books like this remind me why I love reading, and I will probably read anything Foz Meadow’s publishes from here on out.

Thank you so much for this eArc!

HIGHLIGHTS
~Gift is the best gift
~husbanding is tricky
~mysterious bear-cats are mysterious
~which one of us are they trying to kill?
~we are not tragedies

If you think I didn’t drop absolutely everything when the arc of All the Hidden Paths arrived in my inbox, then you are SORELY MISTAKEN.

Not only did it not disappoint, I loved it so much I read it again – twice before release day!

Beginning just weeks after the end of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (and I do recommend at least rereading the last chapter of Endurance, if not the whole thing, before diving into this one) All the Hidden Paths is a luxurious paragon of a book, opulent in prose and emotion, deliciously indulgent without ever skimping on the plot. When I started reading, it was almost a shock – I’d forgotten that THIS was what reading was supposed to feel like, that ephemeral, ever-chased sensation of being completely, deliciously submerged, embraced by the story and embracing it in turn. After months of struggling to focus on anything at all, All the Hidden Paths made my brain feel pampered.

Endurance kept the story tightly focused on Vel and Cae and their immediate surroundings – Cae’s family, and city they reside in and rule, Qi-Katai. We saw some of the ramifications of Vel and Cae’s marriage, but only in terms of the small-picture; Velasin’s fears about what a Tithenai marriage might demand of him, some small amount of unrest in Qi-Katai, and of course, Laecia’s reaction to seemingly being dismissed in favour of Cae. It was really all family politics, though we didn’t know it until Laecia’s role in events was revealed.

All the Hidden Paths, on the other hand, explores the wider ramifications of Vel and Cae’s marriage – which is, after all, supposed to cement political relations between Tithena and the violently queerphobic Ralia. With everything going on in Endurance, there wasn’t really a moment to consider how Ralia might react to their treaties and trade being tied to a marriage of two men, but since AtHP opens with the asa – what we’d call a queen – of Tithena summoning Velasin and Caethari to court, well…now we, and poor Vel and Cae, have to consider it. Especially when they reach the asa’s court, immediately running into all the various factions who each have their own opinion on the matter. It only makes matters worse that Cae is now – by default, not anyone’s choice, including his own – his grandmother’s heir, raising him to the highest levels of Tithenai nobility.

And, uh. Cae is not good at politics. He’s far too straightforward. Vel, on the other hand, is a political genius (even if he wouldn’t call himself that) but he’s greatly hampered by the fact that he knows nothing about Tithenai politics. Throw in Cae’s mourning for the deaths of his father and sister, Vel’s trauma, a series of increasingly suspicious ‘accidents’ along the road, and very bloody intrigue at court, and you have a recipe for an unputdownable tapestry of intricately interwoven silk threads.

<“We’re both new to husbandry,” he said, leaning back. “It would be stranger, I think, if we were savants at it.”>

Vel and Cae’s relationship continues to make my heart melt like warmed candle-wax. Both of them fear stepping wrong with the other, but I was pleasantly surprised by how often they were able to talk to each other about their fears – and when they don’t talk, it’s for very good reasons. We saw a little of this in Endurance, but AtHP really drives home the fact that Vel and Cae come from wildly different cultures. Velasin has had it drummed into him that he can’t love another man openly; just holding Cae’s hand where other people can see is a Thing for him (albeit a pleasant one), and he genuinely has no experience with what we’d consider a normal romantic relationship, where you have to make up after fights and talk out your feelings when they’re complicated. I despise stories where everything could be solved if characters just talked to each other, and don’t for Extremely Contrived Reasons, but here the communication issues stem from believable and understandable cultural differences, and I really loved how Meadows explored that, and how Vel and Cae (with Markel’s help, of course!) managed to navigate it.

<“I can feel the pair of you mother-henning me from here,” Vel called from the bathroom door. “It smacks of conspiracy.”

“You’ll be cared about and you’ll like it!” Cae called back.>

Which is not to say that AtHP is all Relationship Drama, because it very much is not. (Thank goodness.) AtHP is Intrigue with a capital I, much more so than Endurance, which had a strong investigative plotline. AtHP does too, but it feels different, maybe because there are so many more players on the board now, so many different political agendas grappling with each other, and we’re more aware of all of them. It feels more familiar, in a way – I love stories about courtly intrigue, and as a sucker for lush description of beautiful things I’m unashamed to say that I also loved the Tithenai court itself, with all the gorgeous clothes and jewels and such on display.

<Thei flashed him a broad grin, and for the first time, Cae realised that thir incisors were set with gemstones: little chips of diamond that winked in the sun.>

We gain a whole swathe of new secondary characters, including a new PoV character, and even if I didn’t like them all as people, I loved them as part of the story. Everyone from Asrien, another Ralian who gets caught up in the currents around Vel and Cae, to Asa Ivadi, who makes for a fiendishly clever and refreshingly sensible monarch, were fabulous. Even the most minor characters are fully fleshed-out here, with a great deal to contribute even when they’re not directly plot-relevant – for example, Meadows is careful to include many secondary and background female and kemi (third-gender/nonbinary) characters, more than enough to reinforce the gender equality of Tithena in the reader’s mind. Which genuinely added to the reading experience for me: I can’t count the number of times I’ve read a supposedly gender-equal/neutral story where all the minor and background characters happen to be men, but that’s not a trap Meadows has ever fallen into in any of their books, and especially not here.

<“Ah,” said Vel, who’d clearly reached a similar conclusion. “Markel. Good morning. We didn’t hear you come in.”

“That was extremely apparent,” Markel signed, looking pained.>

Beyond the decadent prose, gorgeous worldbuilding, and rich romance, there’s a quiet but powerful theme running through AtHP that is beautiful but hard to define; it’s a little bit queer joy, and a little bit queer hope, and a lot queer defiance, and mostly all those things mixed up together. As a gay man who internalised the belief that he could never be happy, Velasin has a lot of unlearning to do; after having to live as a tightly-knotted, shrunken-down version of himself in Ralia, he now has the opportunity to stretch and grow, because Tithena gives him unlimited space to be himself. To be joyful is often a form of defiance, especially when you’re talking about queerness, and reading along as Velasin really processes his new freedom – freedom that isn’t going to be taken away, even if worst comes to worst and he and Cae divorce, or he loses Cae in some other fashion – made me glow with all the Feels (and maybe tear up, once or twice). Sometimes it’s painful; the scenes where Velasin aches for what he could have had, if he’d just been born Tithenai, are heartbreaking. Meadows writes with such compassion and understanding, such raw and honest emotion, that I think even readers who have never had to be in the closet will feel the gut-punch.

But what I mean to say is, in a lot of ways AtHP is a book about refusing fear, about defiantly choosing joy instead; about believing that happiness is possible even when you’ve spent your whole life being told otherwise. I can’t overstate how well it’s done, nor how deep it hits even for those of us who have been very lucky in our freedoms. When it’s not making the pleasure centres of your brain light up and glitter, AtHP feels like a big, warm, fierce embrace of the most fragile part of you – your inner child, your deepest insecurities, the scars that will never go away – and a promise that you can be happy. That you will be happy. That you are beautiful just by virtue of existing, and no one can take that from you.

<I am not a tragedy.>

All the Hidden Paths is a book that brought me joy; a book that shimmers like silk as it wraps itself around your heart. It’s a jewel cut to perfection, every facet – characters, adventure, intrigue, romance, worldbuilding – absolutely flawless, the star of Meadows’ crown (thus far!) When I’d forgotten the pleasure of reading, the reason it’s the biggest part of my life, this book gave it back to me, and for that alone I’d be unspeakably grateful and unrepentantly rhapsodical about it – but it’s also, simply, a work of art that proves once again that Meadows belongs among the truly greats.

It’s perfection, easily one of the best books of the year, and I genuinely can’t recommend it enough.

A great followup to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance! I read them back to back. It was fun to see their relationship develop and to uncover the mysteries alongside our two main characters. A little spicier than the first book. I look forward to reading more by Foz Meadows.

When I read and reviewed Foz Meadows’ A Strange and Stubborn Endurance last summer (2022), I was under the impression it was a standalone – the main plotline was concluded and the romance ended on a firm HFN - but now it has a sequel and it seems the author may be writing more books set in this world. I liked but didn’t love ASaSE; the romance was great, I liked the characters and the worldbuilding was fantastic, but the pacing lagged in places so the book ultimately felt overlong and the mystery plot was weak, which dragged it down somewhat. So I was really pleased to discover that All the Hidden Paths not only contains the things I loved about book one, but also fixes a lot of the problems – it’s fast-paced, the plot hangs together well, and I really liked that the central relationship develops in a way that is consistent with the characterisation and events of the previous book.

Note: I’d recommend reading the books in order, because the romance is ongoing and book one contains a lot of important worldbuilding. There are spoilers for book one in this review.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance introduced readers to Caethari Xai Aeduria, son of the Tiern (Lord) of Tithenia, and Velasin vin Aaro, a young nobleman of the neighbouring land of Ralia. A combination of difficult and unpleasant circumstances saw Cae and Velasin entering into an arranged marriage, something that was not greeted with a great deal of enthusiam by either Tithenai or Ralia. In highly conservative Ralia, which is rigid in its espousal of traditional gender roles and sexuality, Velasin marrying a man caused a huge scandal and widespread disgust; many in Tithenia did not want closer ties with Ralia and were suspicious of the marriage and of Velasin, who very quickly became a target for that discontent. The story culminated in the deaths of Cae’s father and sister, the latter of whom had been behind the plot to foment unrest in the city of Qi-Katai and to murder Velasin.

All the Hidden Paths opens around three weeks after those tumultous events. Velasin is still struggling to work out how to be in Tithenia – how to be a husband and how to be a man who no longer has to hide his sexuality or be ashamed of it – and Cae is full of conflicted feelings as he grieves his father and sister who, despite her nefarious plotting, was, nonetheless, his sister. The couple are still newlyweds, and while Cae has fallen deeply in love with his husband and has confessed his feelings, Velasin isn’t there yet; he and Cae have slept together, have agreed to be friends and to be honest with each other, but Vel’s insecurities and his tendency to self doubt and overthinking are leading him to feel responsible for bringing tragedy and death into Cae’s life and to worry that his lack of knowledge about Tithenian life and customs will reflect badly on him.

Into an already awkward situation is thrown an unexpected complication when Cae is informed that this grandmother (a high-ranking noblewoman) has made him her heir. Knowing himself to be far more suited to swordplay on the battlefield than he is to court intrigue and politicking, he has no wish to inherit her lands and title, but it’s not something he can refuse. Neither is the summons to the capital city, Qi-Xihan, from Tithenia’s monarch, Asa Ivadi. Reluctantly, Cae and Velasin prepare to leave Cae’s country estate for the city, but with so much weighing on their minds, a distance is starting to grow between them that neither wants, but which neither is sure how to bridge.

A couple who struggles to communicate isn’t one of my favourite things in romance, but I didn’t find it too frustrating here because the reasons for it are so well woven into who these two people are and the emotional baggage they bring to the relationship – Cae’s insecurities over his un-suitability to be his formidable grandmother’s heir; the trauma that continues to linger following Vel’s assault and his fears that Cae will want to be rid of him once he realises just how much trouble he has brought to his door. And then there’s the fact that with everything going on – multiple assassination attempts, court intrigue, murder, betrayal – they have enough on their plates simply trying to survive it all while trying to work out who they can trust and who might be behind it all. But I did like the way their relationship progresses – it’s more fragile and prone to misunderstandings and arguments, but even so, the author never lets us lose sight of the fact that Cae and Vel really do care deeply for each other through the little things Cae does to try to make his husband’s life easier, and Velasin’s snarling threats of bodily harm to anyone who hints at harm to Cae.

I enjoyed the change of setting and the accompanying focus on court politics, although I can’t deny that the plotline and motivations behind it are very similar to those of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. But that didn’t really bother me - the action moves swiftly, the tension builds steadily, and I quickly became completely invested in the romance and in Cae and Velasin working out how to be a couple and what they need and want from each other. We don’t often get to see ‘what happens after the leads get together’ in romances, and although we left Cae and Velasin in a good place at the end of the previous book, the short length of time they’ve known each other left plenty of room for further development, and I loved watching the pair reaching a new closeness and understanding. I also appreciated the exploration of what happens after someone comes out, as Velasin has to work out how to navigate the world as an openly queer person while the customs and mores ingrained in him almost from birth prove difficult to shake off.

As before, the chapters that relate events from Velasin’s PoV are written in first person, while Cae’s are in third – I didn’t find the switch jarring and the sections are fairly substantial so it’s not as though we’re bouncing back between first and third person perspectives the whole time. There are a handful of new secondary characters introduced, one of whom is a third PoV character, a Ralian man named Asrien whose chapters are used sparsely and effectively to provide useful insight into events the main characters aren’t privy to. I was also pleased to see the return of Markel, Velasin’s faithful servant and dear friend, who acts as part-time information gatherer and part-time voice of reason when Cae and Velasin are being, well, them.

Despite my reservations about the repetitive nature of the plot, All the Hidden Paths is a much stronger book than its predecessor and I really enjoyed being back in the world Foz Meadows has created. If there are going to be more Tithenai Chronicles, I’ll certainly be checking them out.

I really enjoyed Meadows' previous book, so I was thrilled to be able to spend time with Vel and Cae again in this one! I loves the political aspect of the first book, so I was especially hooked on the increased exposure Tithenai court. And of course, the relationship between Vel and Cae. Their struggles felt so real and authentic, and even though miscommunication makes me want to tear my hair out, I appreciated seeing how they struggled through it. I like in romance books when we get to see the couple after the big confession, so having a whole book was awesome.

So A Strange and Stubborn Endurance was one of my favorite reads last year. I completely fell in love with Vel and Cae, so I was thrilled to see a second book in the same world. And I still love these beautiful idiots so much. But I have to say, this feels like a repeat of the first book. There’s tons of politics and intrigues, plots and characters with questionable motives, and someone (or multiple someones) are trying to kill Vel and Cae. Again. We definitely moved locations, and the stakes feel higher with being in the capital. But now we have an added POV from Asrien, and his was not my favorite to say the least.
All that being said, this is immensely readable, and the struggles that Vel and Cae go through seem so very real. They’re struggling with how new their relationship still is, how to communicate, and they both experienced so much trauma in the last book that they need to process. In the author’s note, Meadows says this is very much a book about what happens AFTER you come out. And it does such an amazing job exploring everything about that. The writing is beautiful, accessible, and moving. I am glad to have gotten more time with these characters, I just wish it felt a little fresher.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced look at the book to read. All opinions are my own.

When I read A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, I didn't know that there would be a sequel. I was quite happy with the first book and didn't think a second book was really needed. Was I ever wrong!

I reread A Strange and Stubborn Endurance before reading this one and fell in love with Vel and Cae and Markel all over again. When that book ended, I wanted more. And I got that with this sequel. And got so much more! More yearning, more desire, more friendship and close bonds. I laughed and smiled and gripped the book tightly during intense scenes. I was scared and worried for the characters, delighted in their happiness, and felt so much empathy for their self-doubt.

These characters feel so real and although they are working to resolve their pasts and move forward, it's not an easy journey. They make a little progress only to regress. There's no magic fix. And this complete realness in their characterization in the midst of a fantasy book is everything I need in a story.

There's also some great political intrigue and mystery and trying to figure out who can be trusted, lots of twists and turns. The story is amazing and the characters are even better. I adore them and this book.

I love this series so much. Vel and Cae are amazing characters and I love watching them try to struggle through life together. Even though the obstacles are continually against them, having this series provide a more realistic expectation of the "love triumphs over all" trope was really refreshing. It takes work. It takes communication. It's trial and error (a lot of error). The world building of ALL THE HIDDEN PATHS is incredibly well done and getting to see the different types of government interact with magic and just plain strife was something I really enjoyed.

All the Hidden Paths is the excellent sequel to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. A key theme in this sequel is what happens after you come out and how your life may change after this. Vel is dealing with the trauma of past experiences and must decide what he wants out of his relationship with Cae. Meanwhile, Cae must make important political choices while dealing with complicated grief. The lack of communication was rough at times, but it was because I love the characters so much! You want to scream at them to just go to each other and talk it out. Of course, that’d be much too easy. Learning better communication and gaining political prowess are key themes for Vel and Cae.

This sequel focuses on traveling for a good portion of it, which leads Cae and Vel into many misadventures. I enjoyed the detailed world-building and seeing how politics differed throughout the world. Markel is one of my favorite characters. Not only is it great to see sign language and muteness in fantasy, he is also very smart and routinely saves Vel and Cae from their own stupidity. I appreciated how Markel manipulates assumptions people make about him to his benefit. Qiqa is a delightfully clever new character. I loved Qiqa’s dramatic solution to a perilous political dinner. All the Hidden Paths is a high fantasy with complex politics, found family, fantastic LGBTQ+ rep, and heartwarming characters. I hope to see more stories from this world!

Thank you to Foz Meadows, Tor Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

"All the Hidden Paths" by Foz Meadows serves as the highly anticipated sequel to "A Strange and Stubborn Endurance," a novel I thoroughly enjoyed last year. In this installment, Meadows delves deeper into the concealed intricacies of Tithenai court politics and explores the budding romance between Vel and Cae. The narrative unfolds as the two characters are summoned to court, encountering assassins, political intrigues, and unexpected surprises at every turn.

The emotional and physical toll on Vel and Cae is immense throughout the book. Caethari is still grieving his deceased family members, and Velasin is insecure and adrift in a country and relationship he doesn't fully understand. The first half of the book frustrated me with the setbacks the couple endured, but the second half, set at the Tithenai court, made up for it with a plot that finally took off, featuring assassinations, betrayals, and intense conflicts.

Meadows excels in worldbuilding and portraying the intricacies of court politics. I found myself as clueless as Cae, happily surprised to discover that the villain was not who I expected. However, the slow-burn romance from the first book continues in "All the Hidden Paths," and the lack of communication between Vel and Cae had me feeling stressed. While understandable given their history, the overthinking became overwhelming.

Overall, the novel is a heavy but engrossing read. Fans of T. J. Klune and K. D. Edwards seeking serious and complicated romantasy will likely enjoy this series, but it's advisable to start with the first book to avoid confusion.

All the Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows is the much anticipated sequel to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, which I read last year and loved! In All the Hidden Paths, we delve deeper into the hidden intricacies of Tithenai court politics and the budding romance between Vel and Cae. The two are summoned to court and encounter assassins, political intrigues, and unexpected surprises at every corner. Caethari is still grieving his dead family members, and Velasin is insecure and adrift in a country (and relationship) he doesn't yet understand. The emotional and physical toll on the two in this book is immense, and I often found myself frustrated in the first half at all the setbacks our couple endure. The second half, set at the Tithenai court, made up for it with the plot finally taking off; assassinations, betrayals, and fighting abound! I think Vel and Cae deserve a soft and sappy happily ever after 3rd installment after running this gamut.

Meadows does a great job with worldbuilding and the intricacies of court politics. I was as clueless as Cae, just along for the ride and happily surprised to discover the villain was not who I expected at all! However, the slow-burn romance of the first book continues through All the Hidden Paths, and the lack of communication between Vel and Cae throughout had me STRESSED. It's entirely understandable given their history, but the overthinking was overwhelming! All in all, a heavy but engrossing read. Fans of T. J. Klune and K. D. Edwards looking for more serious and complicated romantasy will enjoy this series, but start with the first book or you'll be lost!

Thanks to Tor for providing me an advance reading copy of All the Hidden Paths. My review is, as always, truthful and unbiased, and I hope it helps introduce readers to new books they will love!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. This is my honest review.

I've been so excited to read the second book in this series since it was announced, and it did not disappoint me in the least. I'm cautiously optimistic to say that I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first?

Vel and Cae are still healing from the events of the first book, visiting a family estate in the country and trying to explore their own marriage when a missive from the capital arrives. They are summoned to the court to report to the Asa and run into so many dangers along the way.

I've seen some people say that this follows a lot of the same plot line of the first one, and I can agree somewhat, but it's not to the detriment of the book. We explore so much more of "what happens after" with character development, healing from trauma, grief, and falling in love. I did think this was a necessary book for the series because you don't often get the story of after coming out, after marriage. Life doesn't stop after the first time you come out, or the first time it's accepted, and life certainly doesn't stop after you're married. I'm so glad that Foz explored all of these avenues and even more ecstatic to visit the characters again. (Especially Markel!)

This book has all the vast representation that the first one does, and more. I did like the new pov from Asrien. He felt to me like what could have happened to Vel if he had not left and married Cae. He has a LOT of flaws, and I found it so interesting to see his very chaotic and immature POV in comparison to the very different Vel and Cae.

Absolutely adored this book. It was a wonderful wrap-up to all the things left open in the first. Thank you, Foz, for writing it. I sincerely hope that maybe maybe maybe we can get a book for Asrien in the future.🤞

Vels anxiety is both super relatable and also super annoying to be in his head sometimes. I think I enjoyed the first book more but this was still a fun read.

Continuing somewhat directly on from A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, Paths is much more political that Endurance. Which, to some bemusement, I absolutely enjoyed. Politics is much more entertaining when it has a veneer of queer romance and semi-feudal touches.

Meadows comes right out and says, “this is a book about what happens after you come out” and they are correct. It is also about the aftermath of trauma and the continuing effects of PSTD and how they can absolutely fuck you up and how people will still love you anyways. I love this series and hope that it continues but would also be happy with the duology.

Warning: this is what I would consider on the explicit end of romance so if that’s not your jam, you may want to skip this. (Or just flip quickly through some parts) If you’re a fan of (sort of) high fantasy, give it a try.

I received a free copy from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion.

#AllTheHiddenPaths #NetGalley

This is the second installment in the Tithenai Chronicles (not sure if there will be more but I would be very happy if there were), which follows Velasin and Caethari after the events of the first book, A Strange and Stubborn Endurance as they face the reality of being married and political figures in a world that doesn't seem to want them to succeed.

There is a lot of love about these books, though they will not appeal to everyone. Some of the sexual content will put people off, though I think it does a good job of exploring different kinds of sexual relationships within the context of politics, power, and love. I loved watching the relationship between Cae and Vel continue to develop and honestly appreciated that it wasn't an easy road for them - given what they went through in the first book, it wouldn't have been fair to them or the readers to make everything all shiny and pretty and perfect. As always, the secondary characters are wonderful - though it is sometimes hard to keep track of who is who with the names and titles - and the mystery/thriller aspect kept me guessing. The exploration of trauma and its aftermath is done well, and the political intrigue and its consequences feel entirely plausible for the world Meadows has created. I would love to keep reading about Vel and Cae as they navigate their marriage and its political consequences.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read All the Hidden Paths early in exchange for a review.

I ate up this book as eagerly and as fast as I did the first. If these two lovely fools started talking to each other instead of making assumptions, then... well there wouldn't be a book, and what fun would that be? As much as miscommunication can be an overused trope, it works here, as both Vel and Cae are tackling their fears and insecurities, while being a brand new, politically charged relationship. This is a beautifully written sequel, and it leaves me wanting them to have a chance to just go home and have some quiet time together!

In this sequel to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, newfound peace and the beginnings of a relationship between Velasin and Caethari are put to the test. All the Hidden Paths is full of the same court intrigue, politics, and romance readers loved in the first book..

What a wonderful sequal! This holds up next the the first book! Political thriller, fantasy and romance make this a wild ride of a read. I could not stop reading this book!

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

This was a fantastic follow-up to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, given us an expanded look at the universe the story takes place in, as well as how Cae and Vel fit in to that world. This book is much more political than the last, with the focus on the political ramifications of Cae and Vel's marriage, alongside political machinations going on at court. The politics are not too heavy though, and the court set-up is easy to follow, while still retaining an element of mystery. Cae and Vel's relationship also takes center stage, both in the plot and in their interactions. Where things were more or less smooth between the two in the first book, here their relationship is much more tenuous, often leading to misunderstandings and arguments in a way we didn't see in book one. And I liked how the relationship played out in this one better, it felt more realistic and was quite necessary, given the emotional baggage both are bringing in to things. A third pov was added in sparsely as an interlude between big scenes leading to pov shifts between Cae and Vel, which was an interesting addition that gives a bit more of an omniscient pov and fleshes out some action happening behind the scenes that he main povs are not privy to. I really enjoyed this one, perhaps more so than the first, and it has an open enough ending that we may get a book three, which I would love to see.