Kirkus Review

After Emanuela and Verene escape from their underground cell, they form a grudging alliance in order to control six of the eight ring cities. Occhia and Iris, their respective homes, are forfeit: There is no one left in Occhia since Emanuela lost control of her magic and slaughtered the population, and the citizens of Iris have lost their faith in Verene. The girls don't speak of the past, avoiding in particular any mention of Theo, Verene's twin brother who trapped them underground, and Alessandro, Emanuela's best friend, whom she abandoned in the catacombs. When Emanuela kills the last of the watercreas--the old rulers of the cities--she inadvertently triggers the destruction of her world. The veil surrounding the cities descends and consumes everything, but then Emanuela wakes up in a previously hidden ninth city that serves as the afterlife. She and Verene are whisked away by the murdered watercreas, who task them with capturing the ninth city's ruler, a powerful and insatiable magic user. Emanuela's conviction that she is a savior figure despite so much evidence to the contrary adds to the already heightened tension in a novel filled with secrets, betrayals, and disasters. Her attraction to Verene, hinted at in Beyond the Ruby Veil (2020), is undeniable here despite Emanuela's best efforts to hide it, and Verene's eventual reciprocation offers brief moments of sweetness. Characters follow a White default; Verene has brown skin. Dark, spectacular, and tragic. (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.