Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine

Summary from Goodreads:

To save the Great Library, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone, Paper and Fire, and Ash and Quill put themselves in danger in the next thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.

The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire, and words printed on paper the spark that lights rebellion, it falls to smugglers, thieves, and scholars to save a library thousands of years in the making...if they can stay alive long enough to outwit their enemies.

Review:

Sometimes there are so many books to keep track of that one forgets when the next installment in a beloved series pops up into existence. I love this series so much. The first book was my favorite book of 2015. It’s hard to believe I’ve been reading these books for that long. I also hate that I didn’t realize this installment came out when I did.  I made up for that by reading this book super quickly.

This was the perfect read for a mid-summer power outage rainstorm. There was never a good moment to put this down. So much happens. Things really ended in a crazy place in the previous book, and I knew stuff would go down in this book. I just had no idea how much stuff would go down. I felt like something new and terrible would transpire with each new chapter. My jaw kept dropping. Between, the spy work, the mechanical dragons, the kidnapping, the double-crossing, the weapons, the imprisonment, the rebellion, the power, and the books, this book just had everything!

Rachel Caine has become a master at suspense. Normally, when authors switch to varying points of view in a story like this, I get frustrated. I hate not knowing where something leaves off for one character and being thrust into a new story with another character. In this book, it worked. I was just as nervous for Wolfe ad I was for Jess, as I was for Morgan, as I was for Dario, as I was for Santi, as I was for Khalia.  I have grown to love these characters so much, and the idea of any of them not making it or being tortured had me practically pulling my hair out. Thanks for that, Rachel Caine…

I’m also just crazy invested in this world. I’m dying to know how things can change for the better. I want the changes to come, but I’m so afraid for them too. I’m excited beyond belief for the next and final book in the series.

These books are also just so smart. A lot of flaws I’m noticing in YA fantasy and dystopias lately is just how easy they are. Nothing is easy here. All the characters are like masterful chess players, 10 steps ahead. And I have to work so hard to keep up with them. I love this. I love not knowing what’s going to happen, and who’s tricking who, and what’s real and what’s an act. I love it all.

This was probably my favorite book in the series so far. I love the inkling of hope that is left in the aftertaste of it. I love how far all the characters have come. And I love seeing how powerful, intelligent, quick, and resourceful they have learned to be. I give this one a 10/10.