CW: discussion of substance abuse and rape, PTSD, self-harm

Much like its predecessor, I found this book to be rather average. I liked it and I think it was entertaining, but it certainly had flaws.

In the first book, the mystery was intriguing and well-written, and my only issue with it was the antagonist monologue. While this novel didn’t have any kind of monologue, I think the mystery was weaker. I liked the exploration of art forgery, but the last fourth of the book was quite confusing. There was a poorly explained secret plot, lots of tension, a random death, and I’m not really sure what happened to the captured antagonists.

Jamie and Charlotte’s complex dynamic was one of the best parts of the first book, but in this novel, it suffered from poor communication and teenage angst. They’re on the line between friendship and romance, but misconstrued feelings messed it all up. Charlotte also worries that she can’t give Jamie what he wants should their relationship become romantic because she was raped prior to the series starting. That’s completely valid; my issue is that neither of them tried to talk about everything else between them.

I did like the setting, though. Not many YA books are set in Europe but out of England, so the adventures in Berlin were fun to read. Also, I think Lena is an underrated side character.

So while I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book, I liked it enough to continue to the series. Here’s to hoping book three is the best one yet!