I adore Tamora Pierce; I really, really do. Sadly, Melting Stones just wasn't up there on par with the rest of her work. I loved seeing Evvy again and how her and Rosethorn's characters have changed since Gongyxe (we got to see Briar's after effects in Will of the Empress). However, I felt that this novel fell a little flat. Characters and world were lovely, but there wasn't much happening plot wise. Because of this, I think it probably would've worked better as a novella than a full scale novel. 
 All in all I enjoyed it, just not as much as I usually do Pierce's novels.