Finally getting to book two! Spoilers ahead!
After Andar's death, Tuuli has left her tribe behind in hopes of finding the Others, Andar's family. But the journey is perilous. On her way she meets a small group of people known as the Hidden, and ends up joining them. Together with the Hidden she now has to find a way to seek out the Others.
Yeah, this is a solid followup to the first. I might like it even more, honestly. It did have a bit of a slow start, but once we got going on this journey and met the Hidden things got interesting pretty quickly.
The highlight of this book for me really is the relationship between Tuuli and Nuru, her new best friend. Nuru is a boy who was rejected by his own tribe for a difference he has on his hands, so he ended up being one of the founders of the Hidden. Tuuli pretty much instantly hits it off with Nuru and their bond is just really well-written and sweet. I could honestly see it becoming romantic later down the line and I wouldn't mind.
The other characters are also pretty interesting, including some of the Others we get to meet. My favorite among them was probably Oa, who happens to be Andar's sister. Eb was also pretty well-written even if he wasn't that major a character.
I guess if I do have a gripe with this book, it's that I kinda wish there were more cultural differences between the Others (who are, as a reminder, Neanderthals) and Tuuli's kind (Cro-Magnon). Despite being different species they are surprisingly similar in most ways, except language and the fact that the Others have a patriarchal society rather than a matriarchal one. But I was kinda hoping for a slightly more intriguing portrayal of them here. They aren't really all that different from how the Cro-Magnon function and we don't really see their tribe and lore developed as much as I'd hoped. I think that, with them being a different and mostly isolated type of people, this would've been a good opportunity to introduce some major differences in society, culture, customs, lore, history, etc.. But instead the Others get along with the Cro-Magnon pretty soon and their societies are, except for the male leader and language difference, pretty similar. A bit of a missed opportunity if you ask me. One of my favorite fictional works about Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons is The Clan of the Cave Bear, where the societies, customs and beliefs of each species are unique and well-developed.
So yeah, overall a strong continuation, but did feel a tad disappointed in how the Others were portrayed.
Rating: 4/5
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