Pros: 
 - Tamora Pierce 
 - We finally get to know what happened in Gyongxe 
 - Briar & Rosethorn, since the last books focused on the 4 as a whole or Evvy, it's lovely to see these two together again. 
 - Shit gets weird 
 Cons: 
 - We know what happened in Gyongxe (since there are other books that take place after this one, all the major plot points are expected; this doesn't make them worse per se, but it does feel lesser I guess?) 
 - The characters are largely separated throughout, each fulfilling their own trial if you will. These trials don't feel fully complete or perhaps connected to the overall story in the way they should. 
 Overall 3.5-4 stars. Def good, but I don't feel as overwhelmed as I expected. Could be there was too much pre release hype since it's not everyday we get a new Pierce book.