The second book in the Rook & Rose trilogy! The story picks up where the first one left off, Ren our con artist, Grey our vigilante, and Vargos, our crime lorde all reunite to save their city from the slow corruption of dark and dangerous magic. The complicated relationship between the three character grows and with all their secrets and alliances, their dynamics were so well done in this book. I loved the further world building and magic system that this book has and the DRAMA, the SECRETS, it was just such a delightful read. Ren is still reeling from the death of her friend in the previous book and still is suffering from nightmares of the things she’s experienced in the previous book. She is now officially registered as nobility and is on the hunt to find out why Vargos betrayed her and if she can truly uncover who The Rook is, and her complicated feelings for both The Rook and the Vigil Captain Grey. Grey is juggling his identity as a captain and as a vigilante, with so many secrets to keep, trusting Ren is something he will have to figure out if he can do. Vargos and his little spider spirit friends were EVERYTHING, he is a complex villain..... sort of. He has goals and the way he goes about things isn’t exactly ethical, but he also has emotions, and longings, and grieves over his decisions. Ren and Vargos are both vying to get into a secret society... but soon find themselves facing magic that is dark and soon the only way to save the city and themselves is to join together and find a common ground. The highlight for me throughout this book was the relationship growth between Ren and Grey. I absolutely shipped them last book and to see the chemistry and the romance grow between two people so full of secrets who just want to be loved for themselves? perfection. Another great aspect of this book was the friendship between Vargos and Ren (and of course Vargos’s little spider buddies who I definitely need more of in the third book). I love the complicated relationships portrayed in this book, friends, enemies, lovers, family, and so on. This was a great continuation of the story and for me it definitely did outshine the first book!

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The silver eyed devil and the violet eyed witch, a haunted school, and vanishing students... and a forbidden romance. Corvina Clemm is lost, after losing her mother she receives an admission letter to a mysterious school called the University of Verenmore. She accepts it as a sign that this is where she is suppose to go next, this will be her new start from a sheltered and isolated life. Upon arrival she discovers that the university is an ancient secluded castle on the top of a mountain that is rumor to be haunted and has a history of students going missing. One night after hearing music, she meets a handsome silver eyed stranger playing the piano, cue Vad Deverell. Vad is mysterious, full of secrets, and is a part time professor in the literature department currently working on his thesis. Soon Vad and Corvina find themselves watching each other, running into each other everywhere, and the spark between them grows into something both of them can’t control. They shouldn’t be together, but they can’t resist the call between them and when the mystery draws Corvina deeper and deeper into it, soon Vad and Corvina will find themselves trying to untangle the school’s dark secrets. This was such a terrific read, I devoured it in one sitting and couldn’t get enough. I just didn’t want it to end, and oh my gosh the chemistry between Vad and Corvina was intoxicating and so good. The mystery was fun to follow along with and the gothic atmosphere was just perfect.

A new space adventure begins... and it begins when the body of a girl is found floating.... and turns out she has been asleep for over 200+ years. Tyler Jones is the Golden Boy, everything he’s worked for has lead up to him getting the perfect draft and squad... but the night before, he can’t sleep and decides to take a ride into space... except he finds the body of Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley and rescues her. Too bad things go bad from there. He soon finds out that he’s missed the draft and now the only options he has for his squad are his twin sister, his childhood best friend, and whatever leftovers there are. Now Tyler’s new squad is made up of :

Scarlett- a cocky diplomat and his twin sister

Cat- his best friend, a tomboy pilot

Fin- a smart-ass techqiz who has the biggest chip on his shoulder

Zila- a sociopathic scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates

Kal- a alien warrior with anger issues

and the mystery girl Auri.

When a simple mission goes wrong, the squad soon find themselves in for more than what they dreamed of and the mysteries and questions around Auri start piling... soon they have find themselves at the heart of a possible war thousands of years in the making, with Auri being the catalyst for it all. Throw in adventure, mystery, friendship, and even a splash of romance and what you get is an amazing start to the trilogy. I absolutely loved each and every character and seeing them grow as a squad of misfits, who ultimately all support each other. The story was fast paced and even though there are multiple POVs, you don’t get lost in them and can distinguish them from each other.

The squad is back again and still on the run! Aurora and her fellow squad 312 members are still chasing after finding what they need in order to stop an ancient evil from destroying the galaxy. After escaping from their last scrabble and still reeling from the lose of their ace pilot Cat, everyone is still on edge. It doesn’t help that Kal’s psychotic sister is chasing after them and willing to do anything to get him to join his family’s cause. To top it off Auri now has to master her powers as the Trigger while searching for the Weapon... it also doesn’t help that Tyler is separated from the crew and now all hell is unleashed. Secrets and mysteries are being unleashed in this next part of our adventure and each of our characters must deal with a different task. This was next part of the adventure was sort of split into two arcs, Tyler and his trapped behind enemy lines and must escape story and Auri/Kal’s storyline with their growing relationship, family secrets, powers growing, and what it means to truly love someone. I loved this book and it definitely was a fast paced read for me. I couldn’t put it down and though I was kinda sad the crew was mostly split during this book it was an interesting adventure continuation for our crew. One thing that really shines in these books is the bonds between all the members, and I can’t wait to see where the final book wraps everything up. I was so nervous for our characters, especially with all the close calls. It was interesting to still see Cat in this and her interactions with Tyler, especially with how their relationship ended in the first book. I will say this, I LOVE KAL WITH MY ENTIRE HEART. We get to know more about Zila which is just amazing because she has always been an interesting character and her backstory is so intriguing. Fin and Scar? Yes. Just so much yes. So yes, this was a great sequel to the first book and I can’t wait to start the final book!

Sacrifice, time paradox, friendship, time travel, and so much more come to a head in the finale of this epic space adventure. Our squad is separated, literally by time and space. The story flows through 3 separate storylines, Tyler in his journey with Saedii and getting back to his crew, Auri and Kal fighting Kal’s father and landing in the future, and Zila, Scarlett, and Fin ending up in a time loop in the past..... three separate times, yet all interwoven in this story. BOY OH BOY WHERE TO BEGIN?! I wasn’t expecting the time loop, future and past jumps to all work so well and not get lost (or as lost as you’d get while watching Tenet) but it works! The story all connects and our crew is put through the wringer. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat because you don’t know who will actually make it out alive in the end and as the stakes keep rising and time runs out.... will the galaxy even be able to survive? I have to say this was a thrill of a series and the this finale was well done. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each of these characters, getting to love them and their relationships with one another, and seeing the bonds they have with one another grow with each trial. Auri went from being a lost girl out of time to being tasked with sacrificing everything in order to save the world.... but even then it might not be enough and she has to struggle with trying to find a way to save the world and keep her loved ones safe. Kal has to face his father, his family, and ultimately how he will be able to go on if Auri leaves. Tyler is stuck between trying to get back to his friends, to his sister.... while also facing the girl he failed. Scarlett is starting to see that maybe she finally has found someone that will last, if only they could get out of this dreaded time loop. Fin is finally seeing that maybe he is worth something, that maybe he has found his place. Zila has to find a way to get her friends out of the time loop while trying to solve the paradox and problems that they are facing... and the decision that awaits her that will change her future. Our squad is put through the last test, and ultimately they’ll have to have faith and burn brighter than they ever have before to make it out alive.

**Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review**

Here we are at last, the finale to the trilogy.... and it was not a good time, in fact if out of all three books this was the my least favorite. Nothing really paid off and I found myself questioning why these developments were happening as they were. The characters didn't really grow and the pay off... wasn't great. I genuinely can say that Mordred remained my favorite character, and the only person getting me through this book series. I don't want to spoil anything but in the end, all the characters (except Mordred) got what they deserved, and might I even say ended up with who they deserved. My opinions about the characters remain the same from the previous two books so there's that (check out my other two reviews to see). Overall, this series was disappointing and the ending was lackluster. I had high hopes for the end and was just feeling overall, meh about the entire trilogy after reading this.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Here we are at last, the finale to the trilogy.... and it was not a good time, in fact if out of all three books this was the worst. The biggest issue here is that the first and two books were meh at best but they had potential, they had hope that it could be better in the finale, and what happened? It got worse, it completely ruined the characters and here I am once again to say that my opinions about the characters have remained unchanged since books 1.

Spoiler

Guinevere is annoying, insufferable, and constantly making bade decisions and going between her feelings for three different people, all while being wishy-washy about it. Mordred, the only reason I kept reading these books, was done so dirty in the end, I wanted to throw this book across the room. Arthur remains a bland stale dude with no personality and honestly I’m happy that Arthur and Guinevere have stuck together, throughout these three books because honestly at this point they deserve each other. My boy Mordred deserves to be free this arthurian hell hole and find someone better who is actually deserving of him.

The plot was even more meh than the last two books and the way the story wraps up just had me happy I even managed to read this book to the end. Final thoughts, in the end nothing really paid off and this has ranked itself lower on Arthurian adaptations on my list, and somehow Guinevere has landed on my most disliked female protagonists. Will I be recommend this to my friends? Not likely, I definitely would not recommend it to fans of Arthurian adaptations.... But anyways yup.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*