Victoria's books are so easy for me to read and I love it. I sped through this in a day, just like I did with TSS. And I have to say, I liked this one a lot more.

In TSS I found the story slow, meandering, and altogether not the best. Here it was a constantly wild ride, full of gruesome, amusing, tense, and even sweet moments. I read TSS in a day because it was an easy read. I think I read this in that same time span because it was honestly gripping.

Kate and August were amazing characters. I loved them both. They were the same people I loved in the first book, while also growing and facing new struggles. They complemented each other, too; Kate's ruthlessness and August's compassion. And as I was reading, I found a lot of similarities between Kate and Lila, from ADSOM. I don't know if that's just me reaching, but I liked it nonetheless. I have to say, though, while I love August, I don't think I love him the same way everyone else does.

One thing I was really happy about was the continued lack of romance. At one point I was worried something would develop, because in this one case I don't ship the protagonists, but it lasted about two pages. Everything was fine. Normally I'd be on board, but this is one of the only YA series I know of without romance, so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm sure I and many others have said it before, but I'll say it again: I love the monsters Victoria created. In most cases monsters are black and white, good and bad. In this duology, there's a lot more to it. There's a huge gray area for humans and monsters alike. And once again, I love how unique the Corsai, Malchai, and Sunai are. I don't know about you, but after reading these books I've got some pretty high standards for any future monstrous reads.

One of my favorite things about Victoria's books is the writing. It's simple and flowing, but extremely addicting. I get hooked and then I don't want to stop until I've read it all. On top of that, she weaves in complex storylines, and manages the perfect blend of intensity and humor. It made me happy to see that the puns and one-liners I loved in ADSOM and TSS were back full-swing in this book.

For example, this conversation between Alice and Kate:
"You know what I keep asking myself?"
"Why your hair isn't as good as mine?"

Moving on, I have to say the ending, even the book in general, didn't have a huge emotional affect on me. It was a thrilling ride, no doubt, and I cared about the story and characters, but everyone said the end would destroy you. I didn't feel that way. If I'm being honest, it barely made me sad at all. I had a feeling something like this would happen, although I didn't know the circumstances. Maybe it's bad of me to keep comparing this to ADSOM, since they're completely different, but ADSOM had me extremely invested emotionally, and this book just... didn't.

Other things I liked: Ilsa's quiet awesomeness. Allegro, because cats in stories are the best. Spending time in Prosperity before everything went down in Verity. And, as minor as it is, the Wardens' usernames in their online chat; pun goals. 😂

So all in all, this was a wonderful book. I really enjoyed reading more with these characters, in this world, even if I didn't have any sort of emotional connection to them. It was a monstrously good finale. 😉

(Don't judge my monstrously bad pun. Okay, I'll stop.)