Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Ippos King

I was happy to finally get a book focusing on Anhuset and Serovek. However, I should note that this book has a slower pace than the first two books in the series. There is a lot of the first half of the story spent exploring political intrigue and some of the implications of events in the previous installments in the beginning. I believe the weakest part of this book is the pacing. I understand that the focus on the political plot at the beginning was necessary for the story, but it felt like it dragged more than it should have. In my opinion, that part of the story could have either been shorter, or, could have instead included more scenes with Anhuset and Serovek together. We get to see Ildiko and Brishen again for some instances, which is nice of course, because they are very likeable characters and still have a large role in the plot.

I appreciated seeing Anhuset and Serovek work together and form a deeper emotional connection as they journeyed together. They have had previous interactions that we as readers have seen, but in retrospect they were only surface level compared to what we got in this installment. Both characters were given space to be vulnerable with each other in ways we had not seen before. This made the payoff so much better by the end of the book for their relationship. I am looking forward to reading my next book by Grace Draven. She does relationship building very well and I think if you can get past the pacing in this one you'll have a good time.

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