Ok, so, I'm writing this review right after I finished the book because man, did I not expect that ending. Let me not get ahead of myself though.

To begin, I had a really complicated relationship with this book. I had a complicated relationship with the first one, too, but for different reasons. If you look at my profile you can read my review of the first one for more depth, but it boiled down to "too much going on for one book, it felt rushed." This one, however, felt like it dragged. At least in the beginning. It took me roughly four months to finish this book due to my lack of interest around a quarter of the way through. The whole part where they went back to earth felt incredibly tedious at the time. I realize now, with information about the end, that it was important to introduce Poppy and bring Josh back, but I still think it could've been paced better. It especially felt slow because I wasn't the biggest fan of Julia. Things picked up as soon as they got back to Fillory.

Addressing Julia: I began this book with a strong dislike for her. The earlier parts of her story with the safehouses wasn't interesting to me, but it really picked up and became interesting around the Free Trader Beowulf section. By the end of the book I was fully invested in Pouncy, Asmodeus, and the rest of the Murs magicians. The main group of Murs magicians were interesting and I actually cared about them and their well being. The last bit with them accidentally summoning Reynard the Fox instead of O.L.U. was terrifying. I mourned the magicians lost and sympathized with Julia. Its quite impactful when someone can begin a book disliking a character and end up with a neutral leaning positive view on them by the end.

The end was interesting. I don't know yet how exactly I feel about it, but I liked the touch of Benedict and Martin Chatwin making reappearances. I genuinely mourned the loss of Benedict. I also found it interesting that the beginning of the book tied in so well with the end. I thought that the outer island would never be mentioned again by the end of the book, but I was sorely mistaken. I'm kinda glad that Quentin doesn't get to carry on as a Fillorian king. Quentin is kinda a miserable character, and I think him not getting a happy ending will be great for his development. He's had the best stuff dropped on him, and while he paid quite a lot for it by the end of the first book, it feels like he could do with a bit more paying for the jackpot he hit in life. I'm glad Julia gets to be with her tree in the far side, even though she started the whole mess by summoning the elder gods. She's suffered enough, she can get one good thing.

In essence, like my three star rating says, I liked this. The beginning dragged, and I just felt really apathetic about the whole thing, but I'm glad things picked up in the end. I'm still conflicted about how the ending made me feel, but I think its leaning positive. I just wish things were better paced - better pacing would land this book into four range. I wasn't quite sure if I'd be reading the next one when I started this book, but I can say I will definitely be doing so with that twist ending.