Magic, War, and Family part 2

 The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri 

I had the same issue with this that I had with the first book in the series, the random characters getting a chapter or two from the POV changes. Otherwise, this was amazing! We seen Malani in her roll as Empress, fighting a war. We see her followers with varying degrees of faith in her, particularly her main general. I loved how she handled him and his disgrace. I was devastated when Editia sacrificed himself. He and Rao were obviously in love and deserved a long, happy life together. And then we have Priya and Bumica. The Yaxia return and they learn just who their gods really were, and are. Ashok returns from the dead, but he's not really himself; he's a Yaxia who doesn't have complete control yet. That lack of control allows Ashok to come through occasionally, and he uses him time to help Bumica. Priya is instrumental in Malini's success in battle, but it comes at a cost. The Yaxia wants all of her. With the help of the priests Malani is kills her brother, after she lets herself be captured and the priests turn on him. She locks him in a cell and leaves him poison which he decides to drink. And now, she really is the rightful ruler. And the only sibling left. Priya gets called by the Yaxia who tells her she requires her heart so she stabs Malani. It takes Malani literal weeks to recover and when she does Rao is there, telling her that Editia burned and made mother's fire. And Priya is on her way back home, not realizing that Bumica is only a shell of herself now, because Ashok gave her the knowledge of how to kill the Yaxia, but in doing so it erased her completely.  So much happened in this book and I was captivated by all of it. I need a break before I jump into the third and final book because despite the fact that I cannot wait to read it, I need to separate myself from these characters to fully appreciate how engaging this story was.