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Chosen. Again. by J. Emery

She saved the kingdom once. She didn't expect there to be a repeat performance. At sixteen, Ari fell into a portal and found herself in Callaria, a magical alternate world in need of a hero. So she did the coming-of-age quest. She saved the kingdom and kissed the farmboy turned King. And when she was done... she went home. She never forgot about her time in Callaria. It never forgot her either, and now thirteen years later, she's back. Drafted into the role of Champion once more, Ari discovers that magic doesn't mean freedom from consequences. Her actions a decade ago caused ripples that didn't go away when she did. The gawky apprentice wizard she once called a friend is now a cynical Royal Wizard with a penchant for floor length velvet robes and dangerous secrets. Her magic sword is giving her the silent treatment. The evil ruler she thought she defeated is living in the dungeon, making cryptic predictions that sound a little too much like fact. The farmboy turned King...
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Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor (Binti, #3)

Binti: The Night Masquerade is a fitting end to the Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor. The combination of action-packed climax with a lot of cool-down and aftercare makes the trilogy, and this stage of Binti's journey, feel complete in a way I wasn't expecting, but I appreciate.

The pacing is strange to me. I like how it concluded, but I was startled by spending almost half the book on what felt like falling action and conclusion, with the dramatic high-point nearly dead center. This, for me, cements my feeling that these shouldn’t be read as three separate books, but read together in short succession as one large story. When taken that way, the proportions feel better for every part of the story. After so much trauma, it felt good to have so much aftercare and literal healing be giving a large section.

Overall, I liked this book in particular and the trilogy in general. Though, I kept feeling off-kilter because I haven’t read a story that felt like this before, and I think that’s a good thing for me as a reader, especially when it was done so well.

The therapist’s perspective was relayed so directly in the end that it was a little jarring, but I think it makes sense when part of Binti’s problems were that so much that was important was unsaid, and she had a lot to process. It works, but I definitely didn't expect the tone, nor the brevity of that interaction right at the end.

It’s far from my favorite series, but I would recommend it.

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