I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Girl at Midnight. I was so hopeful going into this book. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it really delivered. The first 3/4 of this book was a 2 Star read. The last 50 or so pages bumped it up, but I still think 3 is a bit generous.

Let’s start with something I did like, and that is something carried over and expanded on in this book. That is the cooperation between people who would normally be enemies in order to stop a bigger threat. That was probably my favorite aspect of this book.

I also really like Ivy as a character. I’m glad we got to see her grow and I wish she’d been given more to do.

Tanith’s story arc is really interesting in this book as well. I actually wish I knew more about her and her motivations. I like the complexity of Caius’s love for his sister and their relationship. He wants to trust her, and gives her second and third and twentieth chances, hoping that one day she won’t let him down, and she can’t see past her own ambition.

My main issue is that, despite the potential of this book to be full of action and a well-developed world and plot, the author instead chose to focus an absurd amount of time on the romances in this book. Not only that, but there are two love triangles in this book. That’s right. Because one love triangle just isn’t enough.

Now, if either of the love triangles were at all compelling, that would be one thing. But they’re not. Rowan is incredibly possessive toward Echo, and Echo is very immature in the situation, emotionally leading both Rowan and Caius along.

In the other triangle, I just didn’t feel chemistry with either of the pairings, and it’s hinted at that one of the characters is emotionally abusive.

The only couple I actually enjoyed was Ivy with her love interest, which was very minor and happened near the end of the book. That being said, the fact that she’s given a love interest at all is another one of my least favorite tropes, which is the everyone-couples-up trope...and it also goes to further illustrate my point that the romance was overdone in this book. There is some seriously scary stuff happening and these characters can’t stop thinking about their respective crushes...FOCUS, PEOPLE!!

My other big problem with this book is that there are some major plot contrivances that make no sense, except that they move the plot along. The main example of this is the existence of Quinn.

Quinn is a warlock introduced at the beginning of this book to come and heal Jasper from a wound suffered at the end of Book one. It’s discovered then that they have a past and that Jasper doesn’t really want anything to do with him. So Quinn heals Jasper and then goes back to his harem as soon as the work is done, right? Actually, no. Instead, he inexplicably decides to hang around, even though no one wants him there. Then he runs with them when they need to escape, even though there’s no discernible reason for him to still be there. But then, a situation comes up where he just so have a plan to help them in their mission; a plan where he is integral to its success. It just didn’t make sense. It was contrived. I didn’t like it.

Other odds and ends:

1. So when Caius was the Dragon Prince, no one was allowed to know his name, because there’s supposedly power in names...but everyone knows his sister Tanith’s name, despite the fact that she is the direct successor to the throne...but everyone’s okay to know her name?

2. Almost nothing happens for like the first 120 pages. This book takes too long to get going.

3. At one point when Echo is comparing London to New York, she says, “It wasn’t humid the way New York was, but then few places were.” Ummmm...there are literally hundreds of places in the USA more humid than New York City...pretty much every city in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Hawaii, California...that’s not even mentioning places outside the US. What a weird statement. And yes, it’s nitpicky, but it stood out to me as I read.

4. When Echo meets the professor, she tells him her name is Rose, because she “decided using a fake name was the safest option.” Then, 3 pages later, she tells him she’s the firebird and demonstrates her powers...what?!

I’m really hoping the finale settles down on all the romance (and this is coming from someone who is a total sucker for a good romance) and focuses more on what is at stake, which is ending this war, defeating the big bad, and bringing peace to the two races. Also, I think at least one of the main characters needs to die in the next book. When you have like 7 main characters in a war book, and they all make it through unscathed, it just doesn’t feel like the stakes were high enough.