I have to admit that I was very surprised by Scars of Cereba. This book packed a serious punch. Continuing the duology from the ending of Last Memoria, Scars takes off running and doesn't really ever stop.

The pace is quite quick and the writing is really well crafted. There has been some growth in the author's writing style and I was totally thrilled to see this. The book moved so well and the plot really had me sucked in from quite early on.

This is a multiple POV tale and that can become a bit troublesome during the reading. Really this was my only struggle with the book. Though it is crafted to show when a memory (and POV) switch is occurring, it can still occasionally be difficult to figure out which character is doing the talking. Like the first installment, this approach does give quite a bit of dimension to the story and presents the events of the tale from very differing perspectives. Sometimes this made it hard to know who to root for and that confusion just hyped up the tension and the suspense for me even more.

The world is still quite interesting, with a little bit of darkness and a lot of mystery. I enjoyed the development of the characters and the plot in this second half of the duology and felt like things were really thought through quite well. The character arcs for Sarilla and Falon were fantastic, particularly Falon, and I found myself with a lump caught in my throat a few times.

There is a lot of cleverness in this writing and I really enjoyed the creativity of the world. The characters were well-bodied and the story really did carry on with a lot of strength. This was a solid book with an ending that I just cannot fault.

Shaw is really showing a lot of talent in her writing as well as her potential for growth and finesse. I very much look forward to her future reads.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. *