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Okay so book two decided to throw a magical international tournament at me and somehow that was NOT the most chaotic part of this book. Let’s talk about it.
So what happens (still no spoilers, don’t worry)
It’s been a few months since book one, and everyone is handling it Terribly, capital T. Kell’s cooped up in the palace being restless and quietly falling apart in that very Kell way — controlled on the surface, absolute mess underneath. Rhy’s dealing with the aftermath of everything that happened to him, in a way that made me want to hug him and also shake some answers out of him. And Lila? Lila left. Because of course she did. She’s out there living her best unhinged pirate life, which, honestly, valid.
Then Red London decides to host this massive magical tournament — different magical nations, elemental duels, huge crowds, festival energy — and it’s such a good tonal shift from book one’s tight, tense heist vibes. Suddenly everything’s bigger, louder, more crowded, and somehow that makes it all feel MORE dangerous, not less.
Alucard Emery walks in and I did not see that coming
Sir. SIR. Who let this man be this charming. Alucard shows up as this ship captain with sharp words and even sharper magic, and the second he and Rhy are in a scene together I could feel there was history there — something unresolved, something neither of them was saying out loud. I was instantly invested in whatever was going on between them and mildly upset that I had to wait to find out more.
Lila, pirate era
She left London to go be a pirate and if that’s not the most “Lila” decision available to her, I don’t know what is. She’s living the freedom she wanted and it’s clearly not fully fixing whatever restlessness lives in her — which, honestly, made her more interesting to me, not less. Then she goes and enters this massive tournament in disguise, because apparently normal decisions are not available to this woman, and I was both delighted and stressed about it in equal measure.
Kell and Lila, and four months apart did absolutely nothing except make it worse
I want it on record that I fully expected the four-month separation to cool things down between these two. It did not. If anything it’s WORSE now, more charged, more “why are you looking at her like that from across an entire crowded tournament,” and I was personally offended on behalf of my own heart every time they ended up in the same room again.
They don’t say the thing. They will not say the thing. There’s a whole tournament’s worth of near-misses and loaded glances and I was sitting there like a woman possessed going “you have SO much time to just say something, WHY aren’t you saying it.” Every reunion scene had me leaning so far forward I nearly fell off my own bed. This is genuinely unfair to do to a reader who just wants two emotionally constipated disaster people to be happy.
Rhy, and the thing nobody’s talking about
There’s something lingering with Rhy after everything from book one — some effect tied to Kell that neither of them addresses directly — and I spent this whole book low-key worried about him in the background of every single scene, even the fun tournament ones. That’s a very specific kind of dread and I resent how effective it was on me.
The Games themselves
Watching everyone compete, scheme, and accidentally-on-purpose run into each other throughout the tournament had me constantly going “okay but WHEN do these plotlines collide” — because you just know they’re all heading toward the same collision course, and the anticipation of it was genuinely stressful in the best way.
The growing sense that something’s actually wrong
Underneath all the tournament spectacle, there’s this quiet, creeping feeling that something bigger and worse is coming — and by the end I was equal parts thrilled and terrified for book three.
Should you read this one?
If you loved book one and want more found-family chaos, plus a new charming disaster of a man, plus Lila making increasingly bold decisions, plus a magical tournament with festival energy hiding real tension underneath — yes. Keep going.
Where to get it
If you’re ready for more chaos, more feelings nobody’s addressing directly, and one incredibly charming new addition to the cast, grab A Gathering of Shadows here — A Gathering of Shadows.
Vibe Check
Mood: Festival lights hiding real tension underneath.
Effort level: Medium — more characters, more threads, worth paying attention.
Side effects: A new crush on a ship captain, growing concern for a prince who won’t talk about his feelings, full support for Lila’s terrible decision-making streak, and chest pains over two people who refuse to just say the thing.
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