** spoiler alert ** 
 This book wasn't terrible. But I feel like only a few things that occurred during the first half of it were relevant. I'm not certain whether to give it two or three stars. I kind of want to knock off a star for Chade even being allowed to reproduce. 
 A lot of time is spent on Fitz and Molly's years of marriage, and while the few hints/events regarding messengers from the Fool and the growth and development of Bee clearly had meaning for the wider story, the rest really didn't. Chapter after chapter of domestic detail about a couple is typically the sort of thing reserved for fan fiction. 
 I just don't understand Fitz as a person. First, after knowing the unnatural life cycle the Fool and his species (?) have, how could the idea that Bee is a White never occur to him? Babies don't gestate for two years, children don't grow slowly and suddenly reveal preternatural intelligence. But someone he supposedly knows as well as he knows himself and has blended consciousness with is known for also having those traits and he never questions it? These aren't the sort of things that one can blow off as a kids uniqueness. 
 My other issue is how he rarely takes command of how people treat him ...Nettle is his child, regardless of whether or not he raised her, not his equal. She has no business thinking she has the ability to take Bee away from him or control any part of his life. Ditto for Riddle. Chade is like the Hydra, remove him from the story and he sprouts offspring who manage to be more contemptible than he is (they aren't confirmed but I'm pretty sure). Then he has the nerve to pawn them off on Fitz! And then it takes Fitz forever to even begin to try and put them in their place a bit, and even then it was only because of their treatment of Bee, not because they were being rude entitled little shits to him and everyone else. Why were these two necessary? 
 And then the reunion most readers wanted comes ... I remember back when reading the Farseer trilogy and being shocked at that scene where Regal's men rough up the Fool and trash his room. Stop being mean to the Fool Robin! Oh to be young and naive again ...she takes thing to a new level of horror here. 
 I feel like the best happy ending I can hold out for with this series is that before he dies, the poor Fool is somehow happy and at peace with his life and feels he succeeded despite all the misery. 
 We'll see.