Asunder is an amazing follow-up to the wonderful Incarnate! The world is easily my favorite thing about this series, as I’m sure I made very clear in my review of the first book. This time the plot demands more world building, so I was hooked from the very beginning! Ana and Sam are working together to understand Menehem’s research regarding the sylph, Janan, and the reincarnation process. I found all of this incredibly fascinating!

Just like the first book, Asunder starts with a sylph attack. Well, kind of. Instead of attacking, they actually start to dance. Dancing sylph? Yeah, totally bizarre, but that’s just one of the strange things that we learn about these dangerous creatures. They’re much more than just shadow and fire. In addition to the sylph, we also return to Janan’s temple and find out what sinister things took place there 5,000 long years ago, as well as plans for the near future. I loved all of the history we got about Heart in this book. It just makes everything feel much more real!

Ana is also on a mission for newsoul rights. After the battle Templedark, many souls won’t be returning and this has the citizens of Heart on edge. Then when newsouls start being born the tensions and violence escalate, and Ana again becomes the target. People seriously suck! While I enjoyed this plot and wanted to see Ana succeed, it started to feel a little preachy towards the end. Of course, I agree that people shouldn’t be tormented for being different, but I also didn’t need to be reminded of that fact throughout the entire book.

As for the romance, Ana and Sam are sickeningly adorable. Their relationship is so sweet and innocent. I just want to scoop them both into a big hug! They haven’t reached steamy levels yet, but there is talks of going further, even if Ana doesn’t fully understand what that entails. She also continues to struggle with whether or not she’s able or allowed to love, since she’s a “nosoul.” Her feelings for Sam are obvious to everyone, so it was sad seeing her question it in that way.

The ending leaves us with a cliffhanger! I was shocked at what Sam reveals, since I wasn’t expecting that. It’s going to have major consequences in the last book and I can’t wait to see how he and Ana deal with it. The people of Heart are definitely going to need her help, whether they want it or not.