The Bitter Twins, Jen Williams

AAAH. Well, this book certainly did things to my heart. If people were hoping that the war beast pods at the end of the first book meant everything was going to be okay, then they were sorely mistaken (of course). Vostok is the only war-beast who has memories of her past lives, and the whole team are working badly together, finding it impossible to take orders and coordinate efforts. Vostok believes that the missing memories will provide that link, so Tor and Noon end up off on an adventure to find the Eborans who left to find where Ygseril originated, while Vintage, Bern and Aldasair hold down the fort.

And then there’s Hest, taken up by the Jure’lia at the end of the book, and finding her way on the corpse moon itself…

The revelations of this book have it feeling ever more like it’s really sci-fi at heart, which is a pretty cool turnaround. Vintage continues to be awesome, and Bern and Aldasair come into their own a little more as well. I adore the relationship that grows between Bern and Aldasair, the care they take of each other, and the way they work together. Of course, by the end of this book the whole group have come together more, through yet more heartstabbing events. And Hest, well. The less I say, the better, in terms of spoilers, but if you spent the first book peeking at her warily wondering what on earth she was going to do… it’s that again and more so.

Once again, there’s just so much to chew on, and it delighted me. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book, the last of the trilogy.

Rating: 4/5