The River of Sacred Waters

Okay first of all WHO told Ariana August it was okay to do that to me on a Tuesday night. I picked this up thinking i'd read a chapter before bed and finished it at 2am with my hand over my mouth. let's just get the obvious out of the way: MINAH. MY GIRL. MY SWEET GROVEHOLD-WANDERING, FUTURE-EMPRESS MINAH. i KNEW something was going to happen at Blackstone the moment she suggested the "little trip" but i thought maybe she'd have some kind of vision, maybe stumble on a clue, maybe MEET someone — i did NOT think she'd be jumped in the middle of the night and dumped into Ihatithre by someone she KNOWS. and we don't even get the name?? we just get "and suddenly, you recognize the voice"?? ma'am that is criminal. i have theories. i have THEORIES. (my top suspect is Kalek's mother Be'hakka) things that broke me, in no particular order: the den scene. i was NOT prepared. the slow build with Thelyrah just casually grasping Sareff's snake while sipping fiera?? and then…. I can’t tell you but you have to read it omg. the casual brutality then "and so the night ended". queen behavior. terrifying. i love her. tuheru's section. i NEEDED this. after book 1 i was dying to know what happened when he was first chosen and we got it AND we got Yohim?? Yohim moving to Corestone with him?? Also Corestone sounds gorgeous I want to live there (crying in stuck-in-america) amaz. OKAY. so i was fully prepared to hate this man after book one. and then we got his backstory and i was like oh… oh he's a tragedy. But then this book happened. I cannot tell you what he did but OMG I hate him even more now. vorahni and ilzgae. the timeline isn't quite lining up for me and i need book 3 immediately because who is even who anymore?? the truth comes out. the scene with Cedra and Minah is one of the best gut-punch reveals i've read in a long time. The absolute horror of this scene—but it was so well done I ws gasping by the end of it. things i need from book 3:     •    what is in the cave on ga'hueal     •    WHO ATTACKED MINAH (i'm betting it's someone in Be'hakka's circle, possibly Kalek's auntie)     •    is te'ire alive. is ansi alive. did they get away??     •    vorahni. where is she. what is she doing in the luminariume. HOW IS SHE STILL ALIVE?     •    etan'ash and thelyrah finally getting a soft moment because damn     •    more tuheru content. give him a flower. let him take a nap. he is so tired     •    amaz needs to be unalived honestly. i'm not sorry. one tiny note: the part six revelation in book 1 about te'ire seeing ansi for the first time gets EXPANDED here in part 13 and god the way it pays off — i sobbed when she said "I won't let that happen. And even if it does, Te'ire—you fly faster than any Cloudweaver I've ever seen." girl you don't even know him yet and you're already willing to lie for him?? this is what romance is supposed to feel like. ALSO. the structure of these books is so smart. seven POVs, half of them with the second-person "you" framing for the sestras and traditional third-person for the men — like the women are inside their own bodies and the men are being observed from outside. i didn't even consciously clock it until book 2 and now i can't unsee it. that is doing SO much work to reinforce the matriarchy without ever having to lecture the reader about it. I feel smart for figuring it out lol my one critique is honestly the same as last time: the pacing of the middle parts (Vorahni and Te'ire especially) felt slower than the Thelyrah/Minah/Amaz sections, and a couple of the smaller named characters (Farshe, Garcin, Sekushi) blurred together for me on first read. i had to flip back twice to remember which Fa'loom was which. but honestly that's a "this world is rich and complicated" problem, not a "the writing is bad" problem. going IMMEDIATELY to find book 3. tuheru hold on. minah hold on. ansi please be alive.

Since it has been a few weeks since I read the first book,I was worried that book 2 wouldn't give me the same feeling as book 1 when I was reading it. I was pleasantly surprised when this gave me that same feeling as book 1. It continued to build on what was already established in the first book while adding to the characters that I already fell in love with. I am loving the different perspectives that we continue to see within the story. Because we can see how characters like Thelyra do evolve from the first to second book. And how these characters will continue to face the challenges throughout the story and how they chose to face the challenges within the story. Like with the first book, once you get into the thick of it, you will have a hard time putting the book down. Because of the fact that you do get invested in the characters and their individual stories. Even though each character has their own story and own character arcs, they are still playing into the overall plot of the story. With book 2, it does seem like we are learning a bit more about the Awakener and what might be their role moving forward within the series. There are still a lot of unknowns about what the Awakener actually plans to do. But I know one thing is for sure. I will be on the edge of my seat holding my breath while enjoying the roller coaster ride that Ariana August decided to put me on that I don’t think I can escape from.