"That is not the way of it. Your future is not set in stone, my dearest star. A coin turns on itself a number of times before it lands." 
 THE WRATH AND THE DAWN was a favorite read of mine last year, largely in part due to the couple I shipped (they are pretty epic). But what of the sequel? What of the final book in the duology - THE ROSE AND THE DAGGER? While I do admit I had high expectations, I found the series conclusion to be somewhat lacking, although it tied things up nicely. 
 Second Book Syndrome? 
 THE ROSE AND THE DAGGER is the second and final book in this series. A conclusion should bring everything to a boil, with all the events threatening to spill over at any second. Instead. I thought this novel was kept at a safe temperature, the plot slowly simmering until the last hundred pages. Unfortunately, this meant that not much happened, and a lot of things felt like filler. On the other hand, some things were just rushed through and not given time to be developed or fully fleshed out. It also brought down the pacing - I kept looking at the page count every few turns. 
 The stakes are ... high? I remain apathetic. 
 I question this statement because it never quite felt true. I'm not sure if it's because I had trouble connecting to this installment in general, or if it's just me, but I didn't feel the danger. I never felt like anyone was in any peril or would get hurt. For a world on the brink of war, everything seemed relatively calm. Some events seemed like they were just thrown in to add angst, and some I couldn't bring myself to care about, including what felt like extremely speedy introductions to characters and convenient solutions to plot conflicts. 
 Feels! This couple still wins all the awards. 
 I still love the couple and think they are a perfect match for each other, I relish every moment they are together and still marvel at the magic in their dynamic. The conclusion also brought some feels for other characters, but of course, I can't give any of that information away! 
 I went back and forth on what to rate this book. Although I should round the 3.6 up to a 4, I didn't, because I rated THE WRATH AND THE DAWN 4 stars and it was decidedly better. The ending and epilogue for THE ROSE AND THE DAGGER were satisfying, but the pages leading up to it were sadly not. 
 "As always. As ever. As a rose to the sun."