Trinity of Bones

This was a really good story, I loved the first one so I was excited for this one to come out. It didn't disappoint, the characters were great and it was a fun ride from beginning to end.

Pretty good book. Reminded me a lot of the RA Salvatore books that I have read. If you're into magic this is a good book to read.

When this book came up to read I was freaking out!!! I loved book one and this one omg I about died. I need more right now!! This was a fabulous edition to the story! Each character was wonderful and the story was well paced and didn't disappoint. The writing was beautiful and engaging and the twists and turns kept me going until the very last page!! I can't wait to get my own copy of this!

3,5 stars

I read Twice Dead, the first book last year and wasn’t entirely taken with it. However when I saw the sequel I knew I needed to give it a second chance. I am glad I did. I liked it a little better than the first.

My biggest complaint with the first book was the world building. In this book we certainly get more of that. We travel to Naya’s home country Talmir where she comes as a traitor (as she comes as an ambassador for another country) and as an abomination (as she is an undeath). We get a better idea of the background that Naya grew up in. How she was always left out of a lot of things and how her father put a lot of pressure on her. We get more countries, we get more about the previous war, we get the political undercurrents, we get more about the necromancy.

A big part of the book is Corten’s point of view as he is dead and in a twilight zone of sorts where they try to coax him through the door, to leave his life behind. It is interesting to see it approached. However in comparison to Naya’s point of views not that much happened. The revelations that did come at the end were not even hinted at during his time there and I think that was a missed opportunity to set up more of the overall plot that will continue in book 3. Now it is a very much mysterious thing that hangs before our main character. They have to save the world but the what or the how or the why is unknown. At the end of book 2, not a great thing.

Naya as a character has grown from the first book. She is less fickle and indecisive. She knows where she wants to go. She has also grown more treacherous, more willingly to lie and be deceptive to people. In some cases that is good, in others not so much I think. It puts her apart as an undeath even more. I still don’t quite care for her as much as one should as a main character and I think I missed the balance that Corten gave her in the first book.

All in all certainly not a bad sequel. I am still interested in seeing where this story will go.

Trinity of Bones is more engaging than the previous novel. This is partly due to the previous novel more focused on world-building than characterization for the first half of it. Trinity of Bones has moved past that, building up the tone and tension of the novel and giving the characters more focus. Now Naya has a chance to shine in this novel. However, she is not the only one who shines throughout the novel. Corten has died, and through his death, Seal gives him a perspective that also gives the story a new dimension. His POV chapters are sparse in comparison to Naya, but they give him life and personality, which was lacking a bit in the previous novel.

As for Naya, it is incredible to see her perspective broaden and to see her come into her abilities and new existence. She spent most of the previous novel fighting her existence, but now, through her experiences, she has grown to accept herself and her race. The racism she felt for the undead has vanished, and now she seeks to spread that mind-opening experience. Moreover, returning to her homeland allows her to face these new challenges head-on and grow even more as a person. It shows just how much she has grown as a character.

In hand with that is the growth of the plot and the subterfuge. Naya always knew she was a pawn, but now her goal is to uncover just how big the plot she was involved in is. It involves so many plot twists and turns that come unexpectedly and keep the reader on their toes. These new developments give the story a new edge and a new mystery for the characters to unravel. Corten’s perspective hints at something dark and more menacing behind the events of the previous novel. Something sinister is growing throughout the novel, but what is smart about the story is the subtle hints Seal drops throughout the story to create tension without giving anything away until the end.

With brilliant pacing, the novel is both memorable and engaging.

When I first started to read Trinity of Bones, I wasn't 100% sure of what I was going to read. I liked the first novel, Twice Dead, enough to request immediately the second book when I saw it up on Netgalley!
Result? A very good choice.

Trinity of Bones is definitely improved in respect to the first novel! 

One good point for starting: Naya! Naya is our main protagonist, in case this is the first time you approach the series. Anyway, I really liked her. There's a clear distinction between the Naya in Twice Dead and Trinity Of Bones. 
In the first novel she was manipulated, used, she was uncertain of her action and involved easily in things behind her control. In the second book Naya still have to depends on other, since she works under someone else command, but she also takes thing in her own hands but with more responsibility then before.
Yes, she commits some mistakes but... who is perfect? Sure, I wasn't asking for it.

Still talking about the story and the character, one nice thing about Naya is the plot is how it's not romance obsessed. Because there's a difference between a fantasy with romantic relationship and a romance story set in a fantasy world. 
And a lot of the premise seemed to promise another stereotypical story with an MC obsessed on rescuing the love interest, forgetting the rest of the plot. And... this novel was actually the contrary!

That's an improvement of this second novel. A lot of things get expanded and the whole ending of the novel surely promise more things to uncover and what I hope it will be a third book. Same thing for the world. So many new aspects! 

Other good point was: all the stabbing! Okay, there wasn't a massacre, but there were intrigues, twists, mysteries both of political powers and of magic. In fact, the necromancy magic gets expanded, all thanks to Corten's plot lines. It gets much more obscure, not incredibly twisted but it allows to present new characters I hope I'll learn more about.

So... to conclude, I'm not sure I can say I disliked something? I really can't point at anything, so definitely this is one of my favourite January read. 
Another plus not to conclude: the book as a secondary f/f relationship and queer people aren't oppressed. To be fair, in book one, Lucia (one of the women involved in the relationship) talks briefly about prejudice she had to face but there's no heavy queerphobia in the world. 
To be clearer and don't give anyone fake impressions, the relationship is very secondary and duo to the plot of the second book it appears only at the start. I really hope the author would consider featuring Lucia and her partner in the next novel (if the novel will arrive). We all need queerer and cooler old necromancer woman.

It took me way too long to actually read this book. I just kept putting it on the back burner even though I absolutely loved the first one. This book starts off almost immediately after the first book ended. Since I read the first book so long ago, I remembered the important parts but some details were a little hazy. This book did a good job on reminding me what had happened without making it drag on too much. I appreciate that in a book! One of the biggest issues in this book for me was pacing. Almost 3/4 of this book was political and just dragged. I’m not saying that the political part was bad, but it was just a change in pace from the first book. I really liked Naya learning to be a spy and how to deal with her new life but this one just took too long to get to the main point. I think that’s why once I finally started, it took me a bit to finish. Besides the pacing I loved everything else. It was really nice to see the other country and learn more about this land. It was interesting to see the afterlife as well during Corten’s chapters. The ending happened so fast and I wish it was a little dragged out a little more but it left off in such an interesting way. I haven’t heard anything for book 3 yet but I cannot wait to continue this journey.

Naya’s character was absolutely amazing in this book. Her growth from the first one is so apparent and I loved her development. She is still learning her limits but I felt like she has had so much opportunity in these books to really show off her character. The bad guys who were helping Valn were obvious to me, but it unfolded in a really good way. I really liked that Corten’s point of view was given in this book as well. A little more was learned about him since being dead but I cannot wait to see where his path lies in the future.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Trinity of Bones by Caitlin Seal was a great successor. I really enjoyed this book and what it had to offer. My only issue was the pacing of the book. It took a little longer to get into than what I would have liked and the ending seemed very rushed. However, I loved learning more about this world. And I know book 3 is going to expand on that even more! Naya’s character is amazing and I loved seeing her growth. So much has changed for her between the two books and it’s great to see such amazing development. Corten’s chapters were so interesting as well and after that ending, I can’t wait to see what happens.