I was starting to think I knew what I was dealing with here at the university best known as Villain Academy. Not so much. But can I really trust a shocking revelation from someone who’s proven to be my enemy?

There’s no way to answer that without diving in. If my mother is still out there alive, I have to uncover the truth. Even if it means putting myself back in the hands of the mages who’ve betrayed me before.

The other scions have my back now, with all the trouble that’s brought them. How much more will they have to sacrifice before we can find some kind of peace?

I’m ready to fight for my newfound life, my family, and the guys I’m falling for… but this battle may bring more casualties than I can bear.

I think I anticipated this book to be slower and longer. We had three books of Malcom being an absolute cockroach, so I imagined we’d have equally as long a battle between the Fearmancers and Joymancers in the mission Rory had sent herself on.

But actually, it all happened in the space of this one book. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; I know that Eva Chase is good with stringing something out as well as she is as making something short and snappy. It just wasn’t how I expected the plot in this book to unfold.

There is much about the way the pentacle and the barons that I do not understand and part of that is the mysterious vagueness of the plot. It’s not that I want to uncover the mystery but more that I want to understand what made the Baron’s so ruthless and so likely to kill their own family members in order to gain more power. There is a difference – at least to me – between being a Fearmancer and being a god-awful Baron.

I suppose it’s the psychology behind those actions that I am curious about. I have always found the brain fascinating, even within fictional characters.

In this book we see Rory leaving Blood U and travelling to the mission site. It takes her away from Declan, Jude, and Connar. It puts her firmly with Malcom, Lillian, and Maggie.

I’ll start with Maggie – she rubs me the wrong way. There is something so obviously wrong with her character, I just can’t figure out what exactly it is and it is driving me crazy. I can’t tell whether she generally dislikes Rory, whether she is a Joymancer spy, whether she’s a Fearmancer working for the Baron’s. I just don’t know but I don’t like her.

I have been on the fence with Lillian because on the one hand she was a close friend of Rory’s birth month but on the other hand she seems to be in cahoots with Malcom’s father. I have been unable to place her in any one space in my brain. She hasn’t done anything inherently awful to Rory, but she walks a thin line in my mind.

Malcom…. I knew this was coming. I said in my last review that the plot was set up for him to become part of the inner circle and have some kind of relationship with Rory. I was ready to accept that, and yes, his character is changing. Here is my issue – it’s happening too fast. I had three books in which to LOATHE him but in less than 2 books, Rory is ready to let everything go and find some balance with him.

It’s not a bad reflection on her character either, she clearly has a great capacity for forgiveness, and it has served her well over the series, but I was not ready for her to be so accepting of Malcom. I needed some of the push pull tug between the characters. Because in my mind, it just feels like she gave in too easily.

There was also a sidebar with Connar, and I know where it’s going, and I know I’m not going to like it. Have I mentioned how much I want to spear the current Barons? Because I would like to see them die slowly.

The one sad moment that has the ability to tear up the reader, didn’t affect me as much as it was perhaps intended to. I think because I had lingering feelings involved and hadn’t perhaps accepted that element into my mind as a positive thought. Honestly, I saw it as more of a relief.

I have no doubt that the result of this book will have implications for the rest of the series. I doubt it will be an easy fix; I am more than prepared for more chaos and idiocy.

I think going into the series at the beginning, I was just getting used to the world and the characters, reading as a reader should and just enjoying the ride. Now, I have this overwhelming desire to see Rory free of all those who wish to control or manipulate her, sitting on a throne with her men around her and ruling with her power and fairmindedness. A far reach sure, but one I will hold on to until the end of the series.