Smoke in the Sun by Renee AhdiehMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wasn't a big fan of the first book in this series, but the conclusion to the duology is a welcome step up. Like The Heart Forger to The Bone Witch, Smoke in the Sun takes its predecessor's world and zooms in on the court-intrigue part to present some seriously heightened stakes. And with the magical elements of the story being much more in the foreground, that's an improvement too. Though the book does still feel a little long and muddled and hard to follow at times, it's pretty well-stocked with the dark-and-full-of-terrors atmosphere we've come to expect from Ahdieh. And some strong commentary, especially of the feminist variety, which rings especially true now that this world's really struggling to reckon with too many centuries of patriarchy. While I'm still not a big fan of the whole duology trend, Ahdieh does a good job bringing this one to a nice, neat close.
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