Gosh, what a special book this is.

I got this when it came out and a year on I still find myself picking it up, flipping to one of my favourite sections and getting lost in it all over again. It’s a book that just sucks you in and the number of times I’ve found myself accidentally reading it to the end again is startlingly high.

Like the previous book this focuses on Galadriel (she didn’t pick her name), who all the prophecies state will turn into a dark, malevolent sorceress, whether she want to or not. Despite surviving the fiasco at the graduating ceremony the previous year she is still stuck in the boarding school from hell, where monsters and nightmares regularly try to eat the students. And she’s got only one year left until she’ll be forced to wade through a sea of said monsters to escape.

This book picks up right where the last one ends, literally seconds after. Which is nice because the last one ended on a nice dramatic moment. In a lot of ways this book is an interesting mirror to the last one, with Galadriel’s star rising to prominence as she settles into her alliance with her new friends. 

The world is nice and compelling and I love the way the story is told. It’s a stream of consciousness from El’s perspective, which does well to flesh out the world and really make you feel immersed. I found it riveting, though a friend of mine hated that form of storytelling so be warned. However that’s the only reason I could think of why someone wouldn’t like this book.

If you’re wondering if you should pick it up then I have to say that now is the perfect time. Because the sequel is finally out and you don’t have to suffer through the amazing cliff-hanger in the same way that I did.