A review by samandthebookstack
Kingdom of Claw by Demi Winters

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Somehow, I went into this thinking this series was a duology...it's not. I won't lie, when I finished this, I sat there for a while feeling a bit disoriented and kind of sad because I am deeply attached to these characters and now I must wait for book 3. 

It is uncommon for me to love the second book of a series as much as the first book. But Demi Winters maintained the same vibe from start to finish in book 2. The multi POV remained engaging and each character's voice felt genuinely different. 

Silla's character development made me smile. Despite the darkness she has faced, she remains warm as a person. She wants to be strong enough to protect herself, but she also just wants to live peacefully with a bunch of chickens. As the proud mother of a flock of very spoiled, very well loved chickens who also sometimes feels like a hurricane of a woman, I felt that in my bones.

Rey's character development, though not as focused on as Silla's, felt realistic and I LOVED the progression of their interactions and how they began to trust one another and rely on one another. Rey believes in her, he champions her without coddling her and I loved that this wasn't a story where the man has to come in and save the day. 

“If you wish to rest, I will shield you from harm. If you want to fight, I will draw my sword beside you. If you want a hundred chickens, I will build you a hen-fortress.”

**If he won't remind you that you're a badass AND build you a hen-fortress, he's not worth having. Reynir Galtung is exquisite.

I'm going to wrap this next part in spoiler tags, just in case, but

I absolutely, positively despise Jonas. He's selfish, short-sighted, and an all around jerk and I hope that we've seen the last of him...though my gut tells me that we have not. If he makes an appearance in the next book, I hope it's so that Silla can wipe the floor with him.

I LOVED the addition of Saga's point of view. At first, I was kind of speed reading because I was looking for the payoff between Silla and Rey, but once I settled into Saga's voice, I really wanted to know more about her. Trapped with enemies for basically her whole life, she is really smack in the middle of her trauma and her fears and I am really itching to see her progress as much as Silla has. For all that she has endured, Saga deserves to find her strength and I can't wait to see how that plays out in book 3. 

Overall, I am going to call this one a 5 star read and a series I will happily recommend to my fellow lovers of romantic fantasy. This series is an excellent example of the genre.

I must note that this ends on a cliffhanger and though it wasn't the kind that leaves the reader gasping, it was still pressing enough that I was a tad stunned. And as always, please mind the trigger warnings, I will copy them below from the author's website:

Threats of violence against children – death of a child (off page) | Gore (detailed) & graphic violence | Animal and human sacrifice (described briefly) | Blood letting/ blood sacrifice | Sexism | Branding & slavery | Ableism and religious explanations for mental health issues | Arranged marriage | Mental health issues including: Agoraphobia & anxiety, PTSD | Addiction: Negative coping through intoxicating substances, Potential drug addiction relapse | Deadly human experimentation | Cannibalism |Graphic sex