In this second installment of The Age of the Seventh Sun series…

Mayana and Akin have to travel the underworld to find the Lords of the Dead. Their journey is normally for actual souls on their way to their final resting place. Still very much alive, Mayana and Akin are nearly killed in the underworld left and right. Despite the tools given to them by Ometeotl, the Mother goddess, their trust in each other and in themselves is constantly jerked back and forth throughout their journey.

Meanwhile… in the land above…

Lani Forbes flawlessly keeps readers engaged in Mayana’s journey with Prince Akin while also exploring another strong female in this series, Yemania. The story shifts flawlessly between the above and below. Yemania doesn’t realize her own personal strength because she’d been told for years that she wasn’t worthy of anything. She was constantly reminded by her father and siblings that she wasn’t traditionally beautiful, that she wasn’t thin enough, and that she wasn’t the best healer in the family. Her backstory is the setup for why she’s so insecure about her skills and her worth as a person when she’s kept in the palace as the royal healer.

Yemania stumbles into a handsome man on the brink of death and risks her own personal safety to save him. While it would be an adorable “how we met” tale to friends, it’s of course much more complicated than that. In addition to societal issues between them, Yemania has to learn to love and trust herself before she can give love to anyone.

Above and below, time is running out…

Mayana and Yemania are both racing against time and their enemies in the above and the below until finally, their worlds collide. I could almost hear either my heart beat ascending up until the “moment of truth”. I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath! I’m so anxious for the next book in this series. As much as I loved The Seventh Sun, I managed to love The Jade Bones, just a little bit more.