When the Light Returns – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: When the Light Returns (The Winter Dark, #2)

Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 463

Publication Date: 5/12/26

Publisher: 47North

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 47North for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A deposed king and the powerful captive of a corrupt queen join forces in a sweeping fantasy of romance, magic, and redemption in this sequel to While the Dark Remains.

The long winter dark has been banished for good, and the mountain palace of the late king should be a sanctuary for Ballast Vallin, who has just assumed the throne. Instead, it’s a torment. Held to account for the sins of his father, Ballast must relinquish his crown and all claim to Daeros, the kingdom for which he risked so much. Worse, Brynja—his father’s former captive, the woman he loves—is the one who forces his hand.

Disgraced, Brynja is sent to Iljaria, a kingdom imbued with ancient magic. There she finds herself at the mercy of Queen Valrún, and is forced to aid in the queen’s quest to claim all the magic long thought irrevocably bound to the gods.

But then a shocking revelation about Ballast’s past brings him to Iljaria—and to Brynja. Together, amid secrets, magic, and betrayal, they must challenge the power-hungry queen to a battle that could ruin the world or remake it. For Brynja and Ballast, their most invaluable weapon is hope.

Content Warning: violence

I did not re-read book one and I highly recommend you do, because I had a hard time getting into this book.

World Building: Brynja goes back home to Iljaria but the reception she gets is not what she expected at all. Now she has to convince the queen that she isn’t a traitor. Ballast loses his kingdom and goes to find Brynja. There is a lot of politics in this one, and a lot of the story takes place in Iljaria. Also the magic system wasn’t something I could get into either, there was a lot of things for me to remember – and it just wasn’t sticking in my head.

Characters: I struggled to connect with the characters because there are a few POVs. I was familiar with Ballast, Brynja and Saga but was trying to remember the other characters. The world opens up to IIjaria so it was interesting to learn about the queen who rules there and Brynja’s tense relationship with her brother.

Romance: The romance between Ballast and Brynja have always been sweet and with some time apart in this book, they eventually continue that romance. There is no spice. There is also Saga’s romance but I wasn’t as invested in it.

Storyline: I struggled with this story because of all the time jumps. It’s all very random and complicated too, which took me out of the story. Plus the pacing was slow so I did not get into this story at all. The parts I did enjoy was Ballast and Brynja, and then plot twists were good too – I wasn’t expecting that at all.

Final Thoughts:

If you enjoyed book one, I think you will enjoy this one but I do recommend doing a re-read because I struggled. I did like seeing Ballast and Brynja grow and their romance is sweet. I also liked the plot twist. But I couldn’t get into the story because of the time jumps. I think if the timeline was a little more straightforward I would have enjoyed reading this more.

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