Magical and religious society

Alina may have escaped the Darkling, for now, but she’ll never outrun the memories of that night on the Shadowfold. Riddled with guilt, she tries to make a new life with Mal across the true sea. But the Darkling is never far behind, and his powers have grown to terrifying new depths. Can Alina keep ahead of him, can she protect the man she loves, and can she really turn her back on her country and the people who, even now, look to her to save Ravka?

Bardugo extends her fantasy world even further in this second installment of the Grisha series. Once again, her descriptions of the environment and the complicated workings of an integrated magical and normal society are fascinating, detailed and riddled with uncomfortable situations. I loved the underlying political games and the religious aspects because they are so radical and unlike anything in our own society. It’s easy to get immersed and lost in this wonderful world of mythology and magic.

Alina’s character evolves throughout the storyline and Mal’s own transformation makes for some interesting inter and intra personal conflicts, which contributes a much larger portion of the storyline than in the first installment. There’s a whole lot of adventure and some intriguing twists in this installment. I’m still hooked on this series!