Bumpy Oak Books

4 stars

**I received an electronic ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Kelly Coon follows up Gravemaidens with its sequel Warmaidens, concluding the duology. Kammani continues with her efforts as a healer, and must learn how to balance her love for her work, her love for Dagan, and her love for her home.

As it is a sequel, even an overview of the plot of Warmaidens would give away much of Gravemaidens. There is a bit more of a fantastical element to this story, as the gods interfere directly in Kammani’s experience.

Both Gravemaidens and Warmaidens are filled with powerful, flawed women. Kelly Coon manages to avoid the “strong, independent woman” and the “warrior maiden” trope by fleshing out even the side characters so that they are multi-faceted and have dimensions to their personalities. While various women do fulfill particular roles (the ruler, the healer, the flirt, the warrior, etc), every single female character is more than solely her role. I cannot think of many YA fantasy duologies that I can say that about, so I applaud the author for that.

While all of the characters were developed, this was definitely a plot driven story. The pace was fast, everything was high stakes, and nothing came easy for Kammani and crew. Kammani had to plan, re-plan, and plan again before finding her way around an obstacle, which I appreciate.

I do find that, while the characters were all solid, I never really found a favorite, which is odd for me and also impacts my ability to give a higher star rating.

I absolutely enjoyed reading Warmaidens, and look forward to future works from this author.