WHERE’S THE LOVE?

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Wow did this characters go through the ringer this round.

This was a great sequel! Though, it may have ripped my heart out. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

RIGHT?

We got dropped right back in where we left off from the first one. And thankfully there’s plenty of nice segues to remember details of what happened in Serpent & Dove. The action was picked up exponentially this round. I found the pace pretty quick and turning every page with anticipation of what creature in the woods was going to pop up next. Plenty of violence and shock moments that really left me reeling.

This was really missing some romance. From the beginning their was a reasonable amount of angst between Lou and Reid but it needed MORE MORE MORE. What I did like is that the conflict between them wasn’t silly drama or a major lack of communication. Both of them were struggling to grasp and cope with the changes being thrown wildly at them. As time progressed and Lou and Reid realized their mistakes they were able to come together, so I liked the general development of their relationship. I also love these guy separately. Such clear opposites that play so well off of each other and in their own segments.

All of these characters really have my love (and when necessary, ABSOLUTE LOATHING). Even those on the side are incredibly well developed, and we get enough back story on them to connect emotionally, but not overrun the story itself. I loved learning about more of the creatures (witches, werewolves, and other mythical beings oh my!) and how they fit into the world Mahurin has built.

I felt a string of emotions and easily devoured this quickly. Talk about an ending that makes you absolutely flip out and I will be [yet again] anxiously awaiting the finale for this trilogy.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy + romance
- Language: some
- Romance: kisses / heated make-outs; some almost scenes and a mild detailed scene
- Violence: bloody and gory; murder, swords, arrows, physical altercations, animal attacks, kidnapping