Blackflame

Series really kicked it up a notch here. The worst part continues to be the actual main character, but he's fine. Just fine. This series lives and breathes with its supporting characters, world, and plot. Eithan is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters ever. So fascinating, he elevates every single scene he is in.

The ending of this one was very good. I was expecting the book to end with the duel it was setting up since the end of the last one, but it doesn't, and I appreciate the unorthodox story structure here. The end comes rather unexpectedly (if you're not looking at how many pages are left) and with plot twists you probably wouldn't expect. It took me a week or two to start Blackflame after the second book, but I started Skysworn immediately after finishing this time, so it did a good job hooking me.

4.5/5 stars, because I can't justify to myself giving 5 stars to a book whose main character I could literally remove from the story and replace with a cardboard box and not care about the difference.