I liked the development of the bond between Nia and her companions. I though Sonja was going to be annoying but she turned out to be my favorite of the group. Tom apologizing to Nia at the end for his behavior was a pleasant surprise. Normally stories like these dont bother and just handwave the bully's initial behavior away, especially in regards to SA or threat of it. I respect the author for not only getting Tom to change his temperament but also getting him to acknowledge his behavior and apologizing. Sonja, who I thought I was going to like the least, actually became my favorite character.

What I think needs work is explanation of Nia's magic. I found it hard to grasp and convoluted. The worst example was at the final battle, namely how the sword, which was not mentioned to have been special at all from what I remember, was suddenly capable of sealing away both Saesquarr and Qinn. She's also able to use both song and songless magic and some 3rd form of magic.

This is not a critique and more of an opinion, but I feel Saesquaar was less a goddess and more of a powerful wizard. Mainly because the power gap between her and her underlings did not feel very large. That could be on purpose but imo, the difference between a god and a powerful mage is the gap in strength and scale of their abilities in comparison to other mortals.

Overall I feel the story has potential but needs work on its magic system and its planned scale. The conclusion felt like there will be more to the story, but im not sure where the story can go from here if they're leaving the world they're on.