*This review is for book 3 in the Heir to Moondust series and it contains spoilers for The Prince of Starlight and The Prince of Daybreak.*

“Can we— Can we come inside?” Cricket asked, his voice soft, like he was afraid he might be rejected out of hand. Like he doubted how much Takayoshi wanted to sweep him into his arms, and never let him go again.

I love Yoshi’s growth on The Prince of Daybreak, and I would’ve preferred to see more about what happened with Cricket during that time as I enjoy the voice in his chapters. But as much as I have fun with Cricket’s POV, I can’t help but feel reflected when we look inside Yoshi’s mind: he has trouble expressing feelings, he’s considered stoic by people who don’t know him well (flat affect), and he gets overwhelmed by loud noises and social situations.

Characters make a comeback, and I liked meeting them again and seeing more facets of them. Some others I wasn’t as eager to find, such as Cricket’s murderous uncle or Yoshi’s bigot one.

I believe what works against this book is the adaptation from being a web serial, making the pace weird at times. Some revelations and the development of such were rushed and happened off-page, but I expect them to be explored in the next and final instance. I also didn’t love that everyone gets oddly paired up.

With one of the MCs being an adopted royal and the other giving up his birthright to the crown, it’s clear the central theme of this series is found family, especially when the ones who hurt them the most are their own blood relatives. It’s also about learning to trust others and standing for the ones you love.