The Heart Forger

This was a great sequel to The Bone Witch. I loved to continue with Tea's story, and it made me both smile with joy and ball my eyes out. Regarding the pacing, plot and world building, it definitely improved since the first book. There is a lot more action, political intrigues, and awesome character development. Tea is probably my most loved character of all time, she's interesting, powerful, intelligent, charming and has a melancholic aura that just makes me want to hug her (and probably reminds me of myself). There is romance and friendship and family to adore. I especially love Likh, I think this character gives great representation throughout the series, though I can't really say why, cause I don't want to spoil anyone who hasn't read the books yet. But it's definitely something I'd like to see more of in fantasy books. I was surprised to grow on characters I couldn't stand in the first book, and the characters that I loved already were just like old friends returning to me. I enjoyed seeing more of the fascinating world, diving deeper into the magic system and overall the atmosphere Rin Chupeco creates. The writing style is perfect to me, and the two timelines still are the element I love most about these books. It was a thrilling, still mysterious read that gave me a lot of emotions to handle and I can't really say more than that this series saved itself an eternal place in my heart.

"The Heart Forger" still starts a little slow like [b:The Bone Witch|30095464|The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch, #1)|Rin Chupeco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592725583l/30095464._SX50_.jpg|47934504] did, but it picks up much faster and has the advantage that readers are already familiar with the double timeline and the way the story is told. This book (and series) really is a fantasy epic worthy of this signifier, and in my opinion, its only weak points (except the obvious point, the slow start of book 1) is the few times this second book loses itself in romance tropes. Mostly I enjoyed the way Tea's romance developed. From her having an unrequited and superficial crush on the prince to her developing mutual trust, respect and understanding with someone she used to be at odds with. The final step to them becoming lovers felt slightly rushed, though, from "I don't understand why I worry so strongly about what he thinks of me" to "I've loved you since Lake Strypnik" and "I'll follow you wherever you go". Nevertheless, this is too small a thing to get annoyed with this book, when the rest of the plot captivates me so thoroughly, and it does.

I must say the middle of the book was a bit slow in comparison to the other parts, especially the end, but I like it how everything turned out. The whole story gets darker with each book, but no big surprise here, because the narrative basically tells you that between each chapter. Another well written book for me, I totally enjoyed it and I like the characters. The relationship between each of them is kind of flat and weird complex, which makes them really enjoyable. Can't await to start the next book, hopefully not the last one of this universe.