This book was just pure lush! I couldn’t put this down at all I forgot how fast pace this book series was. I know you all meant to hate the evil character but I very much enjoyed the Nightmare pov especially when it took over more of Elspeth body manipulating everyone…! I felt so bad for Elspeth the way she wanted to help but the master manipulator the nightmare always gets in her way and I hated that like let her be herself. I loved Ravyn dearly the way he protects Elspeth as her body has been fully been taken over by the nightmare. Even they have to stick together making allies work even if it means making enemies along the way! Trying to find deck of cards to rescue the spirit from the woods mist that even itself was a challenge. I felt like Elm was getting his strong side having the heir to the throne which is a huge responsibility itself his older brother hauth is fighting for his life after confronting Elspeth nightmare which that also took a turn itself I didn’t expect that to happen at all!
I’m not gonna lie, I was super worried at the beginning. Elm and Ione seemed to come out of nowhere and felt a bit forced, but I REALLY grew to love their story. Elm was probably my favourite character in the whole duology so getting to see more of him and seeing the story through his POV was great. The ending had me really choked up, when the Shepherd King mentioned he felt like Elspeth’s father I thought I was gonna start crying. Ravyn being his descendent was cool, Hauth getting enchanted by the mist was okay (though I think Ione should’ve beat the snot out of him first), Jespyr having the Shepherd King’s sister’s power was kinda deus ex machina but still worked fine. It subverted expectations a little to have the secondary romance end in marriage instead of the main one. Would’ve liked to have had a while with Elspeth and Ravyn now that she’s no longer being piloted by the Nightmare but again, preferred Elm and Ione at this point, so it wasn’t too much of a detriment.
Also this one was a bit spicier in case people want to avoid that entirely, it was very euphemistic but still pretty clear what was goin on. I was honestly quiet shocked how many twists and turns this had espcially the infection happening from Elspeth I really hated the king he really annoyed me I was glad to see when he died.