I had started to pick up on the hints that there was something off about [redacted] and I won't say I was pleased to be right, because I WASN'T. I probably wouldn't have remembered the hints, if I hadn't done a marathon re-read of the entire series beforehand, because I read enough that I tend to lose hints and (presumably) minor plot-threads if I haven't read a series in a while. I had my suspicions of "there is something .... Off .... Here" to 2 characters.

I had been wondering how the stakes were going to get raised - Toby has faced so much and somehow come through every. Single. Time. It is, admittedly and unfortunately, starting to get to the point where the stakes don't seem so... Tangible, less edge-of-your-seat, how-are-they-going-to-get-out-of-this. And honestly maybe that's on some level living through 2+ years of a global pandemic, maybe Seanan is also exhausted by the constant high-stress. And maybe that's shaping some of her writing. That's absolutely forgivable.

Well this fucking cliffhanger definitely did some heavy lifting with the stakes not feeling as high. The last 2-3 chapters are absolutely fucking wild.

Besides, do you want to see Toby yell at Oberon? You can see Toby yell at Oberon, it's gr9.

For the novella at the end: it was nice to learn about the Luidaeg's partner who fathered the Roane and revealing to see exactly how her geasa were bound.