If I didn't own the second book, I wouldn't have read it. I gave Aerie a shot, to hopefully answer the things I needed and give me what I wanted from Magonia, but this was equally, if not worse, than Magonia. The plot was confusing and I couldn't fully grasp the antagonists goals for being "evil" until the end??? It's not like it needs to be spelled out but there wasn't enough build up for it to be anything relevant. Any minor character added ended up playing a major role for literally 2 seconds and then they died ???? I'm not pleased. I legitimately have never wanted a book to end more in my entire reading career.