Burning Kingdoms is the second book of The Internment Chronicles and I was very excited to dive back into this world. Not only did book one leave me wondering what was in store for these characters personally but also as they navigate this new world below Internment.

Morgan and her group are in a new world and surrounded by people they don’t know. As they become introduced to this world, they are finding out what really is important to them and what dangers they have opened their families up to.

I loved the addition of the Piper kids – the older ones, Nimble and Birdie, added another layer to the story and I thought they helped move things along. Their father was definitely not my favorite. It was tough to feel anything but annoyance/anger for him because of the things he did.

I found myself struggling with the friendship between Morgan and Pen as well as the relationship between Morgan and Basil. First, Basil deserved better from Morgan and I think I was mostly frustrated with her on his behalf. She needed to figure out what she wanted now that she wasn’t tied to the rules of Internment and I felt like she just kept going back to what she thought was comfortable…which isn’t necessarily fair to Basil.

As for the friendship between Morgan and Pen, I don’t know. They clearly love each other and they want to protect each other but Pen is pretty self-destructive and Thomas holds everything she does wrong, against Morgan which isn’t necessarily fair. In the end, everything Morgan did was to protect her friends and family and I get it.

I thought DeStefano did a great job of moving the story along. We get to see what is really going on in this world and why they really want access to Internment. I did find the world they were in a bit confusing as there wasn’t a lot of explanation. There were brass clubs and movies and the King also has access to airplanes and bombs but things seemed a bit limited in terms of technology.

I’m not completely sure where book three will take this story and I look forward to diving into it when it comes out as I am curious to see where DeStefano goes not only with the overall story but also with the characters. Some interesting things happened and/or were revealed in this book that will make the next part of this story one that I want to dive into as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the review copy!