The Bone Shard Emperor

**I received a copy from through NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own, and the book is awesome.** I purchased a copy because I loved it so much.The Bone Shard Emperor is amazing. Rest assured it doesn’t fall into the second book slump, acting as a filler for characters to prepare for the impending “real” conflict in the final book. It’s a glorious read that met, maybe even exceeded. The Drowning Empire is on its way to being one of my favorite trilogies.The strength of The Bone Shard Emperor continues to be the strong female characters and world-building. An already rich world is further expanded with the addition of the history of the Alanga, a history that is slowly revealed throughout the book. It was one of my favorite parts of the book.The character development is also superb. While there continue to be multiple points of view, Lin and Jovis make up the majority with those of other characters kept to a minimum. This contributed to a much better reading experience than I had with the first novel. Lin was my favorite character from the beginning and remains so. She learns first-hand how difficult it can be to try to please the people and to make decisions she believes is best. It's hard to be the person in charge when people are scrutinizing your every move as well as prepared to depose you at any time. Despite being the emperor, she continues to be the girl who yearned for her father's love and approval, Rather than her father’s acceptance, she now needs the residents of the empire to place their faith in her. Throughout the book, I kept hoping her desire to find someone to connect with would be fulfilled.The book is amazing. I finished reading it as soon as I got approved, but it took a while to get my thoughts translated from sighs, gasps, and grunts to words and finally to sentences that made sense. This is one of my favorite reads of 2021. (4.5 stars rounded to 5 stars)

Such a fantastic series! I was eager to read this book after falling in love with the first book. It did not disappoint at all. Intelligently written with really great structure given the volume of characters that we follow throughout. Can’t wait for the 3rd book!If you’re looking for another series in this same style to read until the 3rd book arrives, I highly recommend The Broken Earth trilogy by Jemisin!!!