firstly, this was not as good as book one. secondly, how the hell is this going to be a five book series? regardless, while i'm still on the high from the ending of this book, i'm here for it. because yea, the ending of this book really pulled my rating up and recaptured my attention. the fact that this book took twice as long to read as book one just tells you how i felt about reading this book. if it weren't for my book club's deadline, i'm not sure if i would've finished this as fast.

random thoughts:
- The ending with Jack

turning out to be venin.

Definitely not expected, but i like the twist. here's my issue with it: I do not give a flying fuck about this man. I cannot bring myself to care about his intentions or his role in this story. even if his role will be more of a major one in the future, i still do not care at all.
- i'm very wishy washy on my thoughts regarding xaden. one second i like him, the next i'm just done and over with him. he's so infuriatingly inconsistent and secretive that i don't know if i can support him or their relationship right now. i really wanna see how people justify 1. him being so secretive, and 2. how

xaden's second signet makes him exactly like Dain. Dain was torn to shreds in that first part and I wished there was more backlash from Violet's part :/ At least Dain's getting a redemption.

- the ending with Xaden

becoming venin.

first off, huh? how, what, when, and why? maybe this will give an ACTUAL darker edge to Xaden that i haven't really seen. maybe it'll make him more interesting or consistent. i wonder if he's gonna keep more secrets. one can hope that things will change with his character.
- the ending with Violet's mother.

i didn't love her, but even i was sad :( even sadder when she said that she was finally gonna reunite with her love.

- i still love Tairn and Sgaeyl and their whole business, but i will also say that it made me sad to learn that

Sgaeyl hid Xaden's second signet from him. betrayal :(

- also the parts with the main group trying to figure out

wards and how to set them up?

BORING

ffs why is there no pronunciation guide? according to interviews and my bad hearing:
- Ridoc is "ri- dick" not "rye-dock"
- Tairn's name pronounced "tair-IN" instead of "tair-N" (maybe? hard to tell)
- Sgaeyl is not "scale" with a g, it's "s gale" with a slight pause
- Teine is "tine", rhymes with wine
- Navarre is "nuh-var"
- Basgiath is "bas-guy-uth"

more to come later (maybe)