4/5 The second book of the series picks up shortly after the events of the first. I love the briefness of how things tie together and immediately thrust you into a brand new part of the world.

The journey into the outskirts really pulled me in as the landscape slowly changed and the characters began to immerse themselves in the new setting. The transition into the red grass fields and all the struggles that come with the area really shone through.

It felt a bit slow in the middle purely because the landscape was very same-y and so there were only a few new pieces added, but the magic in the story was really about how the author captured the daily life of the people there and really fleshing things out.

I also love the perspective from Rowan being an outsider coming into a land and to a culture she did not know and learning how to navigate the new issues. I felt very immersed and eventually really grew to love the world and how things worked as it made sense for the nomadic type groups moving about despite them being very different from the Inner Landers.

The ending of the book also offered a great reveal about the world and gave more clues about what truly is happening. The blend of sci-fi and fantasy is very well executed and I love finding the little bits that are obvious to the reader but clearly not to the characters.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and can’t wait to continue the series!