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Spoilers will be sandwiched between two asterisks

In every sense of the word, this series is so underrated, and I recommend it to literally everyone. The writing style is quite unique with the narrator taking it upon himself to engage with the audience - especially in the footnotes, and also with the medieval flair and wording that is used. That, in turn with the combination of profanities being sprinkled over petty much everything, creates such a lovely writing style that I believe is such a shame more people can’t experience (for example here’s a few of my favourite parts: “She was ten years old, after all. Alone and helpless and afraid. But here is truth, gentlefriends, no matter the number of suns in your sky. At the heart of it, two kinds of people live in this world or any other: those who flee and those who fight. Your kind has many terms for the latter sort. Berserker. Killer instinct. More balls than brains. And it shouldn’t surprise you, knowing what little you know already, that in the face of this thug and his blade, and laden with memory of her father’s execution never flinch never fear instead of wailing or breaking as another ten-year-old might have, young Mia gripped the stiletto she’d fished from the darkness, and slipped it straight up into the puppy-choker’s eye.”, “Lay hand upon me again, sir, and I'll feed your jewels to the fucking drakes.” , “Iron or glass? they'd ask. She was neither. She was steel.”)

Besides the amazing writing style, the characters are also perfectly written. I’m not going to do an in-depth analysis of each character, but I’ll use Ashlinn as an example (I would use Mia, but she is the main character so she should be written well regardless). In the first book, Nevernight, Ashlinn is Mia’s loyal friend, but, right at the end, a twist in the novel creates a huge rift in this relationship. In Godsgrave (the second book), **Mia and Ashlinn are not friends, but enemies. In this book though, Ashlinn ends up coercing Mia to her side, and thus puts the rest of the plot in motion. Not only this, but a different kind of relationship blooms between Mia and Ashlinn, a romantic one. This creates such a tension between the characters and also heightens the risks on their many shenanigans.** Still using Ashlinn as an example, she is the perfect example of a love-hate relationship with the reader. The way that Kristoff writes this relationship between her and the reader is masterful.

The plot itself is a whirlwind of romance, adventure, and murder. The events not only help give the characters more depth, but they are really quite creative. **Whether it be travelling across miles of desserts to learn at a school of assassins (or more accurately a cult), or turning against the same school in the name of justice, this book has it all covered** I am constantly in a state of suspense, and whenever I finally think I know what’s going to happen, Kristoff takes it in an entirely different direction