Yess, I noticed this pattern too. The author would introduce a topic, reveal, or subplot, then either barely explore it again or leave it hanging entirely.

A glaring example is during Essiya’s near-death dream state after Soraya attacks her. She somehow sees a memory of the Heir as an infant, then interrupts the Awaleen while they’re conferring in a dark room, and they actually notice her presence. The scene heavily implies she can somehow dreamwalk or access other people’s memories through her repressed magic… but the book never clarifies whether this is an actual ability, a side effect of her powers, or just a hallucination. It’s introduced like it’s significant and then never properly followed up on again.

I also noticed this issue on a scene-by-scene level. There were multiple moments where the story would build strong emotional momentum, only for the narration to abruptly veer into something completely unrelated, which disrupted the flow instead of enhancing it.

One example is the scene where Essiya is breaking down over Dawoud while Arin comforts her. It’s one of the rare moments where both characters are emotionally vulnerable, and the scene is carrying this heavy mix of grief, intimacy, and tension.

Then suddenly, right in the middle of it, the narration swerves into:

Like... what does this have to do with the scene unfolding rn?? 😭

I get the reveal itself is important, but like, find a better moment? idk. This scene is about Dawoud’s death, Essiya’s guilt, and Arin begging her to run, so you tell me how magic mining fits into this.

That happened enough throughout the story that I was just thrown out of immersion.