The first thing I will say is a massive THANKYOU to the author who added a ‘previously on’ style recap that refreshed book one in my mind when it came to reading book 2. Such a great idea and I wish more authors did it. I've finished reading an arc of Traitor of Redwinter some time ago and I've been struggling to gather my thoughts honestly. It's been a wild read and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Amidst threats old and new, Raine must find her path, weaving her way between a twisted friendship, a dangerous mentor, the dark secrets of the book, and the queen with a crown of feathers to whom Raine has already promised more than she can afford to give . . . So go away. It’s a private thing. You’re too full of yourself to take it seriously. You make everything seem … juvenile.’

Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a disappointment for me and I wanted to like it more than I actually did. Mainly due to the fact that I enjoyed the first book so much. It’s not that it’s a bad book per se, it’s just that I didn’t get along with it at all, and for the first two thirds of the book it felt like I was wading through treacle trying to read it. I just lost all interest in it and there were more than quite a few times that I was contemplating not actually finishing the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Now, almost a year after coming to stay with Ulovar LacNaithe, the Draoihn who saved her life, Raine has finally been permitted to train with the other apprentices. She’s being pushed through a crash course in armed combat and meditation techniques to control the Gates, limiters that determine which magical powers a Draoihn can wield. While most Draoihn only open the First Gate, entering an active trance that enhances their senses, others can gain further abilities with additional Gates. Only Grandmaster Robilar holds the Fifth Gate while the Sixth Gate, the Gate of Death, is forbidden due to its connections with the grave-sight.The first 60% of this book is character development and world building, which is nice to have the world fleshed out a little and I think will come good in book 3 for sure. Sanvaunt knew the truth about me, but he hadn’t turned me in for it. If our situations had been reversed, I hoped I would have been like him. I wasn’t sure I had his goodness, though. Especially in light of what I was about to attempt on these stinking bodies.