I would have posted this review sooner, but I got distracted rereading The Lightning Thief. No regrets.

I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of A Whisper in the Walls by Scott Reintgen. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In A Whisper in the Walls by Scott Reintgen (the sequel to A Door in the Dark), Ren Monroe has survived the trials of the wilderness, with all its perils and monsters, and has emerged with Theo Brood at her side—and as her bondmate. The two are linked with a spell, thus connecting their emotions and even their thoughts sometimes. This is proving complicated, because while Ren is developing significant feelings for Theo, she’s also secretly planning to destroy his family, which has subjugated the land of Kathor for years and which was directly responsible for the death of her father. Keeping her secrets is increasingly difficult, especially when she makes an alliance with Dahvid and Nevelyn, two siblings whose family was also destroyed by the Broods. Balancing everything is becoming impossible for Ren, who might have to risk everything she has with Theo in order to get her revenge.

I quite liked the first book in this trilogy when I read it earlier this year, and returning to this world was really cool. It’s an interesting land, a place almost feudal in the way that certain powerful families rule, while everyone else mostly scrapes by, and where magic is less random and more based on who can afford it. So it’s easy to see why Ren would want to tear this system down, and although she’s quite ruthless about it, you can’t help but want her to succeed.

I think the scenes from Dahvid’s and Nevelyn’s perspective were also intriguing, though I would have liked to get a better sense of how the different countries’ relations really are. I feel like the explanation was a little lacking, though granted I could have missed something. Still, seeing how the siblings have had to survive with almost nothing in a different country was compelling. And the complicated way they and Ren deal with each other was great.

However, I really wish we’d gotten more scenes with Theo, and especially wish we’d seen from his point-of-view. He doesn’t feel nearly as well fleshed-out as the others, and so I didn’t care about him as much as I was supposed to. I was mildly invested in him, but that was only because Ren was, and I usually tend to go along with protagonists with this kind of thing.

That said, the rest of the aspects of this book were great. The action is intense, especially in the final act of the book, with twists, reveals, and betrayals that were surprising but also well-foreshadowed when you look back. The magic system isn’t quite as complex as in some books, but it’s still a good one, and I enjoyed seeing Ren discover new things about it. 

In the end, A Whisper in the Walls is another good story in this universe. It’s got quite a different feel than the first one. The first installment was more a wilderness survival tale, while this one focuses more on things like politics and espionage and scheming. It’s perhaps a slower pace, but still full of intrigue, and with several well-written characters, excellent magic and action, and overall this left me looking forward to the concluding volume.

.A Whisper in the Walls will be published on April 23rd, 2024!