Daughter of the Tempest – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️.5

Title: Daughter of the Tempest (Myths of Empyrieos, #2)

Author: Braidee Otto

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448

Publication Date: 10/20/26

Publisher: The Dial Press

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to The Dial Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Princess Aella and her best friend become the kingdom’s most-wanted fugitives in the much-anticipated epic romantasy sequel to Songbird of the Sorrows—featuring dual perspectives, ride-or-die friendships, found family, unlikely alliances, and two slow-burn romantic arcs.

Songbird. Traitor. Runaway. Heroine.

Aella is on the run. After a life of being trained to follow orders, she finally defied them when the true purpose of the Aviary’s mission in Eretria was revealed. Still reeling from her lover’s betrayal and Prince Keres’s deadly trials—and now abducted by the very person she risked everything to save—Aella is branded a traitor and has no choice but to flee across the Emyprieos with only her secrets and the silver-eyed stranger by her side. As they evade capture, the two mustgrow to trust each other, but Aella soon discovers that she’s not the only one keeping secrets, and the truth only complicates their already fragile pursuit of freedom.

With Aella accused of treason, her best friend, Nyssa, is under suspicion as an accomplice. Disguised as a servant in the Southern Kingdom’s palace, her sole aim is to find Aella and ensure her best friend’s safety. But between the upcoming Empyrieos Games, the threat of discovery, and a reluctant alliance with Aella’s brother, Prince Kallias, risk waits around every corner.

As both women fight to survive against the dangerous political power of the Southern Kingdom, the Aviary, and the Prince of Eretria, the two must also claim their identities and destinies in a world that seeks to define them.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ I thought book one, Songbird of the Sorrows, was pretty good, with lots of potential and I was afraid this sequel would suffer from second book syndrome but no, it got better! This story is told between Aella and Nyssa’s POVs – they are best friends, like sisters, but torn apart by circumstances that happened at the end of book one. I love how even though they are apart and cannot contact one another, they are still thinking of one another and how to get to each other. That’s love. There is still some spying in this one, along with secrets, betrayal, political intrigue and a few twists. With dual POVs sometimes one stands out more than the other but the balance is so good with this one – I couldn’t put down the book!

+ The found family, outside of Aella and Nyssa, is done so well in this story. Aella meets Lyxander’s found family and kin. Some characters from book one reappear surprisingly in this one! Also Kallias has his guard/friend Max, who is the only person that is close to him outside of Aella. I was emotional about some of these characters.

+ The romance is slow burn, especially for Aella and Lyxander. But I do love that theirs is a very slow burn because book one Aella was in love with Raven. So I didn’t want to see her rushing into a romance with someone new. Because it’s a slow burn, Aella and Lyxander actually get to know one another through training, but he’s not pressuring her with anything. I loved that for Aella because there is a lot of things dumped on her in this sequel and she definitely needed the time to process things. I think the romance payoff for them in book three will be amazing! The spice doesn’t come with their romance though, it’s Nyssa and Kallias who go from dislike to like and lots of growing tension between them. I love them together but overall the story is low spice.

+ Aella’s character grows a lot especially with some new revelations about her mom. I can’t wait to see how much more she grows in book three.

Final Thoughts:

I loved this one – it had more spying, political intrigue, slow burn romance, and I really love the found family. I care about the characters and it was hard to put the book down. I can’t wait to see what happens in book three!

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