Tides of Gold and Oblivion Review

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Tides of Gold and Oblivion (The Council of Cyllene, #2) by Tara Straight
Series: The Council of Cyllene #2
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy
Pages: 411
Format: eARC
Source: Provided by author for honest review
Goodreads

Seek the darkness…And the darkness will seek you.
In the wake of the battle between the Cyllenians and the Strangers, Maila has left behind the life she once knew—her city, her friends, and the safety of the walls. But with her newfound abilities and the family she’s found in Kieran, Nyathera, and the Strangers, the future is full of possibilities.
That is, until the Strangers make a difficult choice that changes everything.
Terrified that Kieran will lose control of his magic again, the grieving Strangers decide that he is no longer welcome at camp. And so begins the journey to locate Kieran’s only hope of learning to manage his powers—his father’s family, the dangerous and enigmatic Oryxians.
As Maila supports Kieran in his search for the Oryxians, she uncovers answers to her own questions along the way, including hard truths that leave her reeling. With her future with Kieran looking uncertain, her list of enemies growing larger by the day, and the threat of losing her new family forever, Maila has no choice but to risk it all—her life, her home, and her heart.

 Julie’s Review of Tides of Gold and Oblivion: A Steamy Dystopian Romantasy (The Council of Cyllene Book 2)

This book throws you directly into the story; an itty bitty recap would have been nice. I tend to forget things, though the first book ended quite epically.

I devoured this book in a couple of days, starting with reading during a beach camping trip. I read the first book at the beach so it was only fitting.

The emotions! The roller coaster of moods and anxiety and rage I felt reading this.

Where in the first book we were feeling the slow burn between Maila and Kieran, in book 2 we have a rollercoaster of emotions and drama. It doesn’t help that we have people in the community who are hating on our girl because “why is he into her anyway”?  Then, our man has issues, alright? He is struggling with his powers that seem to be unlocked when he’s very emotional, to the point where the little community kicks him out for being a danger. He is devastated over what he did (accidentally) and the blame game is severe. The yearning and pain and emotional damage I got as a reader was intense.

Then we have female friendships that are the stuff of legends. And even a character who was maybe a frenemy before, and turns into a strong ally. The bonds formed with these people during their quest is epic. Speaking of quest, our friends go to meet with Kieran’s real “family” the god-like alien somethings, where our man is asking for help with his powers. Ok, our man is getting therapy, he’s a good guy! While he’s in training, the others are snooping around and finding out some truths about the magical world and what happened in the incident that caused all the issues with the magicals and the non magicals. So we have some really neat new characters and worldbuilding going on.

Then we have the conflict with the jerks in the city. Just, let them be! So you don’t like magic, so what? But no, we have to war. The ending, while not exactly a cliffhanger, was devastating, too. And we know book 3 will have all the burn the world down for his girl epic story line.

Let’s go, need book 3 already. And I guess I’ll also need to time reading the final book at the beach. Solid 4.5 stars.

Tropes I love:

• Forbidden magic and unique beings
• Found family and strong female friendships
• Touch her and 💀 will literally unalive people over her and not even on purpose
• Mind bonds and magical connections
• MMC who yearns and works through his flaws

 

 

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