Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. This book is 4th in a series... I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books. However, I still enjoyed this book. I would recommend readers read the other books in the series before reading this one.

Because Leah’s parts of Jeweled Fire were the weakest parts for me (aside from the romance), I was a bit hesitant going into Unquiet Land. I’m definitely not torz (okay, I don’t live in Welce but I can pretend), and Leah’s not got the vibrancy of any of the other heroines. She has the most in common with Zoe when she does her whole still waters thing in the first half of Troubled Waters. All of that is fact, but surprisingly her narration worked really well and I was just as invested as I always am in Shinn books.

In some ways, Unquiet Land is most definitely a weak installment of Elemental Blessings. Plotwise, things get downright silly and the romance isn’t majorly shippy. However, at this point, I love all of these characters and this world so incredibly much that I was a mess of feels during every scene where Leah interacted with anyone from the other books. I even had major feels about her evolving relationship with her daughter Mally.

Leah’s romance is sweet, and it’s certainly better built than the romance in Jeweled Fire, but it’s very much not the tropes that get my shippy heart beating. Partly, I feel like I don’t know Chandran all that well; for example, I’m really not sure how old he is at all, though I’m guessing somewhere from 40 to 50 but idk. I do appreciate how hesitant Chandran was to start something and that Leah really did take time to carefully consider whether she wanted to enter into a romance with someone with that much scary baggage.

Speaking of scary, Unquiet Land is pretty horrifying. Shinn has this massive gift for creating intriguing cultures, and she ties it in this book to her gift for writing fluffy fantasy that’s surprisingly dark. Darien’s hosting some Karkan leaders, and you get to learn about life in the Karkades and it is absolutely horrifying. I mean, I thought the stuff with the rival country in Troubled Waters was bad, but holy shit. It’s truly remarkable that Shinn manages to keep this book feeling light because it is creepy af.

Plotwise, this is by far the worst of the five Shinn novels I’ve read so far. The ending is hilariously silly. I honestly did laugh through the final scenes. [I mean, the Karkan woman who is incredibly obsessed with Leah for some reason sacrifices herself and saves the day without Chandran’s sacrifice being necessary. But then! Oh noes! Chandran has already poisoned himself with the slow-acting poison, so that the Karkans wouldn’t have been able to torture him for too long. He is dying! Much sadness! But Mally has the strongest earth powers ever and she heals him. Boom. Everything’s fine. Which should have meant that she was now the Torz Prime, but actually Taro’s still okay; that too was a death fake out. I think what bothers me most is that I wasn’t aware the heirs to the Primes could have so much magical power, so I’m hesitant about whether this is logical within the confines of this world building. (hide spoiler)]

Unquiet Land has some definite issues, but I kinda loved it anyway. I love Welce and this whole cast of people too much not to. I’m really hoping that the final book in this series happens, because I NEED my hunti heroine very badly. Also, I’m kind of hoping the heroine is Natalie, since she is hunti af in Unquiet Land (after not having been in books two or three hardly at all).

I never connected to the love story, which took up too much of the story, but I love this world and would happily read about Sharon Shinn's characters discuss exchange rates and trade routes forever.

Sharon Shinn is one of my favorite authors and I was so excited to have access to this book! I have read all the books in the series and although this was not my favorite I thought it was a good addition. Leah was the main character and her relationship with her daughter was the driving force of the plot. I enjoyed being able to revisit with the characters from past books in the series and I hope there will be at least one more book to finish out some unanswered questions.

I read "Troubled Waters", first in this series, back in the day, and I've got the second on my TBR shelf. I rated "Troubled Waters" a 4 and liked the world that Shinn created.

However, I may have gone a bridge too far by jumping to the 4th book. Leah was a new character for me, but it seemed like she has a ton of backstory. In fact, all the family intertwinings were extremely complicated and I couldn't find my footing in this book. There was lots of exposition, but it felt a bit overwhelming and I didn't process it all very well.

Sharon Shinn's trademarks of shopping and relationships were again at the fore here. Leah has a daughter that she left behind 6 years ago so that she could help her country gather intelligence abroad. She also left because she was fleeing a sour relationship. She wants to know her daughter but is terrified of rejection. This storyline interested me more than the obligatory romance. Honestly, I skipped to the end of the book after about 60 pages because I felt so bogged down, but I skipped around enough to find that the romantic pairing that developed in the book was the one I thought it would be.

Leah has lots of friends in the ruling families- this is a book about very privileged characters. They offer to help her with getting to know her daughter by essentially buying her a shop (natch!) to run. She will stock exotic goods and hopefully attract foreign customers homesick for familiar foods and items, and then also gather intelligence. Most of the sixty pages I read were devoted either to family background or setting up this shop. It's definitely wish fulfillment!

In a certain mood, I could have liked this book better. If I had more time to sink into it without getting impatient, if I needed a very gentle book to soothe myself. At this point, the pace was so slow and the background of the book so complicated that I got impatient. These books are definitely about the journey, not the destination, and I was too impatient for the slowness of that journey. I kept wondering what I should read next- not a good sign for the book I was actually reading.

Although I had heard the author’s name, I had not read any of her work. It’s always a risk picking up a book in the middle of a series; much of the time, you get either huge chunks of expository backstory or you are lost by references to the same. Shinn skillfully draws the reader into her rich, intricate world, filled with marvelously depicted characters and even more nuanced relationships. This world is one of small island states, each with its own unique and sometimes bizarre culture. Although there is definitely a story “off the pages,” it’s not at all necessary to have started at the beginning to fully enjoy this one.

Leah has returned to the city of her birth after a period of exile, political intrigue, and a relationship that might develop into a romance. In between getting to know the young daughter she left behind, figuring out her place and what she wants for her future, she crosses paths with travelers from another island state, strangers whose political ambitions and utter amorality threaten everyone she holds dear. Although the story has plenty of suspense and dramatic movement, what stood out for me was the emphasis on relationships – new ones, old ones, those laden with regret and those inspiring hope. The sheer number of characters and the system of magic, the religious blessings and traditions, all these elements might have seemed overwhelming in the hands of a less competent writer, but Shinn weaves them all together to bring dimensionality and emotional resonance to every aspect of Leah’s world.

Sharon Shinn always tells such a unique and brave story. This one is no exception. Of course there is a romance, but it was not what was expected. I would really like to see more of this series.