'Eidolon (Wraith Kings #2)' by Grace Draven

Goodreads Synopsis -

In a bid for more power, the Shadow Queen of Haradis has unleashed a malignant force into the world. Her son Brishen, younger prince of the Kai royal house, suddenly finds himself ruler of a kingdom blighted by a diseased darkness and on the brink of war. His human wife Ildiko must decide if she will give up the man she loves in order to secure his throne. Three enemy kingdoms must unite to save each other, and a one-eyed, reluctant king must raise an army of the dead to defeat an army of the damned. A tale of alliance and sacrifice.

Novel Review -

Sooo I can confirm I am absolutely in love with Brishen. Looking back on my last review for this series, my thoughts on the novel was that it was slow and somewhat misleading. But in this instalment, the love for this story grew.

'Eidolon' is a story told from three perspectives, I know I'm a reader who doesn't really appreciate reading novels from other point of views unless they're clear. Draven was able to effectively write the chapters about the different characters really well, I wasn't left confused and I loved the flow of the story.

Things that really world well for me in this novel -

1. Main characters - To be honest I was always obsessed with Brishen and Ildiko, their chemistry was on fire and their personalities were so well matched. Both characters experienced a whole heap of doo doo but I loved how the story was able to showcase how they got over their hardships.

2. Humorous and playful story line - Can I just talk about the amount of times I caught myself laughing out loud at this book. As the reader, you experience humour as well as sympathy and all the other emotions that go into a book.

3. Fantastic acknowledgement of the Kai Kingdom - Another favourite was the description of the kingdom and it's people. It very much reminded me of Fae society, the whole banishment and hatred towards humans. This novel was really unique when identifying the physical and emotional differences between Ildiko's people (humans) and Brishen's people (Kai).

4. Women empowerment - Ooft, what a strong woman Ildiko is. In this novel she totally stands up. I absolutely loved how she was persistent enough to take the reins on some of the kingdom ruling while Brishen was away and I became obsessed with how she suddenly turned into one hell of a boss lady! This novel is the prime example of a woman taking the situation into her own hands even though she's being shaded for it.

Now to the sad bits -

1. Story speed - Okay, gonna admit, still not impressed about how slow I thought the story to be. I was glad this time around that the plot wasn't too focused on the relationship between Ildiko and Brishen. But I thought that the story line was really drawn out and was becoming a bit repetitive.

After all, I did really enjoy this novel. I wasn't the biggest fan of the first work but this was a great step-up. I cannot wait for the third novel, can't really think of anything that could top Brishen turning into a spirit to be able to fight back death eaters.

4/5 Stars