"'Heroes are just villains with worse survival instincts and moral superiority complexes.'"

It's been about a year since I read this duology for the first time, but I could not remember what happened in the second book so I decided it was time for a reread.
Overall, the second book is better than the first. It fleshes out the characters more and it really drives in the urgency of the situation at hand.
While Gavin and Alistair were my favorite characters by far, Isobel, Reid, and Briony grew on me a little. I still have my issues with Briony, and Reid creeps me out, but I didn't hate them as much as I did the first time reading.
Of the three main romantic subplots present in the story, I felt that two of them were very surprising but also they fit relatively well together.

Spoiler

When I first picked up the series, I saw a lot of fanart of Alistair and Gavin and I was confused because they're not a thing in book one, but once I read book two I realized why. Isobel and Reid are a bit weird to me...I don't know why, but something just feels off about them.

All in all, this duology is a great series for anyone looking for a magical "Hunger Games" type scenario or a modern, dark fantasy that will leave you questioning who the heroes truly are.

Spoiler

"'The thing is, I've died before. So I shouldn't be this upset, or this scared. Because I know that when it's over, I won't hurt. I won't want these things anymore, because I won't want anything. I won't be anything. So maybe the way it hurts right now doesn't matter. But I really want it to matter. I-I don't want to die knowing that everything I've suffered through meant nothing.'"

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 stars