Kwoomac

Three years have passed since Froi moved to Lumatere. During that time, he has trained with the queen's army and has been found to have many skills.He's a good fighter and has an ear for languages. At almost 18 years old, he has learned to control his impulses (somewhat) and his hard work is valued by his elders, although he can continue to frustrate them. When the time comes that someone needs to be sent to kill the king of Charyn, Froi is the one chosen. The story deals with those he meets along the way. He struggles with whom he can trust. He finds out about his own lineage. And he falls in love. The love story is wonderful. The ending was a little too "okay, now you gotta wait for the next book". I don't mind a cliff hanger but this was more like the author just got tired of writing and decided to stop.

I thought Quintana was especially well-written. She was complex and she definitely grew on me. She reminded me a lot of my cat Lucy, who frequently growls about things she doesn't like. Linus tries to take her sunny spot, grrrr. A cat walks through her yard, grrrr. Someone she doesn't know comes to the door, grrrr. Just like Quintana. For the record, though, Lucy's hygiene is way better than Q's.

Four stars because I felt like the story dragged a little in the chapters dealing with what was going on in Lumatere. I didn't really want to read about Isaboe and Finnikin, Lucien and Phaedra, Trevanion and Beatriss. I kept thinking, "I don't care. Let's get back to Froi!"