A review by lermonysnickers
Carving Shadows into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love this series but oof you can feel the middle book syndrome in this one. I still love it and all the characters, but the pacing is a bit slower and the POVs are less spread out than they were in the previous book. Like the first 10 chapters are just Jax and Tycho and then they aren't in the same place again until the very end, which was a little disappointing since the premise of this book implied that they would getting more time together, not less. I think the best word to describe how this book felt to me is anticlimactic. We know the stakes have risen because that's what we're told, but it doesn't FEEL like they've risen compared to the first book. And maybe I wouldn't be feeling these things if I had read the book in one week instead of three (I've been sick and not reading as much). All that said, I like how this book is setting up for the last one, so hopefully everything it's done pays off in the end.