Fans of Fable, and Shadow and Bone, how did you not tell me about this book sooner?! A queer, gender-bent, racially diverse, retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is EVERYTHING I never knew I needed! <3 And it's MASTERFULLY written, the art in the word choices, and metaphors painted, twinkling in the text like brilliant little diamonds; I just want to hold onto every one! Tara Sim doesn't use the original Dumas story as a crutch. If anything, the changes improve the original story, elevating the tale of deception and bloody revenge to one of teen self-discovery, where emotions, inhibitions and flawed perspectives can make or break a whole young-person's world.
I love this book, and this author's voice, and I am dying to get my hands on the sequel. Tell. Your. Friends! Read this book!!

This book was TERRIBLE!

Danny, a minor background character from the first book, is completely mischaracterized in this sequel, just so she can become the "surprise" accomplice to Abby. But it is no surprise, none at all! XD It is laughable how much Danny gets away with. An intern to a retired cop gets LEFT ALONE with an alleged serial killer?!?! And gets assigned detective duties, like connecting an email address on a Paypal receipt to the name of a John who has been murdering prostitutes in Abby's honor! And every time Danny's left alone with a perp, or given an assignment she has no right to handle, she magically, instantly, has an answer to lead the cops somewhere new... Because DUH, Danny is helping Abby, and misdirecting the cops, and every scrap of information she "searched" for was actually premeditated, planted information that Abby schemed up.

And it only works not because Danny and Abby are super-geniuses, which the book wants you to believe. No, it works because everyone in this book has an insane number of friends-with-benefits who break the rules for them. Abby has two prison guards enamored with her, who help her escape. Danny has a friend at the border to Mexico, who helps them escape. Even Jerry, the retired cop, calls in a bunch of favors with other cops, so that they overlook regulations and get him the information he needs to keep following the case. The case he shouldn't be on. Because he's retired. And far too emotionally invested. A SMART turn of events, would have been for Abby and Danny to mislead Jerry long enough for him to get CAUGHT breaking the rules, and then use this technicality to get all his evidence thrown out! Then, Abby could walk free. Instead, she and Danny just make a break for it, there's a huge manhunt, and yet somehow we're supposed to believe that they cross the border and drive off into the sunset?! Too easy. And stupid. And easy.

But dumb plot aside, my second-biggest gripe is that I feel betrayed: The first book had so many GOOD points about addiction, the stigmas around it, the helplessness, the blurry line people draw between what's an "acceptable" addiction and what's not... Creep did what good horror/thriller is supposed to do: It held up a mirror to the reader and asked, "Who's the real monster? What are we capable of?"
Freak. Does. Not! Freak does not have a point. It has no theme, no message, no focus. It's a bunch of campy nonsense about how everyone gets a boner for Abby, and some trite, sad scenes about how difficult marriages can be... Nothing! A book full of nothing. I am angry I wasted my time moving my eyeballs over these words.

On the surface, this book is a queer-positive superhero origin story. Reason to love it enough! But /actually/ this is a story of the cyclical, systemic violence endured and combatted by LatinX people in America. Police brutality, homelessness, gang warfare, racial profiling, political puppetry, social media propaganda - all the warfronts LatinX/PoC's/LGBTQA have to fight just to exist. And addressing these issues in a YA fantasy novel is SOOOO raw, and relevant, and necessary, and heart-wrenching, and AMAZING!!! My heart was in my throat the entire time I was reading this book. The stakes are high, the characters are diverse and sympathetic, and both the injustices faced and the different responses as to what "justice" ought to be are so REAL. I love a fantasy that makes you connect with reality. That holds a mirror up to society, and makes you question yourself.

This book is also genuine to its YA cast and audience. There is a motif throughout of trying to claim one's identity while dealing with body/social image issues, society's prejudices, family expectations, changing friendships and relationships, and the ever-present threat of racially-charged violence. How can there be room in the world to simply Be yourself, when you're needed to perform so many other roles... Is there ever a point when being You is enough?

5 million stars for this book keeping it real!!! There should be a copy of this book in every household, it's SUCH a good conversation starter! My heart is broken, but I am so in love <3.

I was disappointed in this sequel :/. The reliance on Harry Potter references is still prevalent, and I /again/ wish that V.E. Schwab had invented her own, in-universe, faux-Potter for Cassidy and the rest to obsess (and bond) over. The emotional core of the first book - Cassidy and Jacob's strong but tested friendship - took a backseat until the penultimate chapter of this sequel, and I feel like that was a mistake. Cassidy's concern for Jacob's growing strength, and Jacob's determination to NOT turn into a violent spirit (despite his growing resentment for Cassidy's waning trust) could have been played up more. Instead, Cassidy's concerns mostly manifest in nightmares, and she doesn't have a proper conversation with Jacob until the end of the book.
I feel like the basic plot of this book suffered too, when compared to the first one. The Red Raven, as an antagonist, had clear motives. But Thomas's increasingly violent pranks don't reflect on him being a kid, or how he died, or developing a grudge against Cassidy. They're just random acts of violence. And Cassidy receives very good advice from everyone - including herself - and yet she jumps down that rabbit hole into The Veil, time and time again; which is an unnecessary handicap for her in this book, because Thomas isn't limited by The Veil the way that regular ghosts are. Half the plot wouldn't have happened if Cassidy hadn't jumped into danger at every opportunity, sans plan.
Finally, the ambiance didn't really click this go around, not in the way that cold and misty Scotland did. Sure, Cassidy feels a chill when a ghost is near. But largely, Paris is described as glowing, golden, romantic and beautiful, sweet-scented with gardens and carnivals and chocolatiers... It's not scary, so much as it is a tourism pamphlet for Paris.
Long story short: Too little character development, random and inconsequential plot, felt like I was whizzing through a geography textbook, until the cliffhanger ending which was arguably the best part. Sticking with the series, but man was this installment "meh" :/.

The elements of this book gelled in a spectacular, spell-binding way. V.E. Schwab brought her voice to this one, giving this book as much ambience and sentiment as Addie LaRue or Shades of Magic. (In fact, I could picture this book as a TV adaptation, I could feel it that vividly. And I SO wanted the Two of Swords tarot card that Cass drew to be an Easter egg: An image of Delilah Bard in her black masquerade outfit XD. How fun would it be, if this book were the start of an All One Universe for V.E.S.? Addie LaRue in New Orleans...maybe Cass could go ghost-hunting in London soon...? But I digress XD!)

New Orleans was the perfect setting for this story. The layers of history, mystery, spirit realms, and living mayhem all intermingled and slipped through and around each other, like jazz music. The friendship and growth between Cassidy, Jacob and Lara is right at the center of this book, where it belongs. The Society of the Black Cat was a much-needed extra dimension, that made the paranormal world bigger than Cass's bumblings or Lara's lectures. And The Emissary was a perfectly grim and sinister antagonist. All together, the story threads do a phenomenal job of highlighting the importance of choosing to be present, and daring to celebrate, even in the dark.

I have zero explanations for why this book was so good XD. The situation - A seemingly powerless orphan girl naively getting enrolled in a school for paranormal creatures, and obviously falling headfirst into a fated-mates, vampire romance - was unsubtle, campy, and full of all the abusive stereotypes rampant in my least favorite YA fiction. AND YET.... XD Grace's friendly, peppy, casual narration reminded me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The EXCESSIVELY VIOLENT student body who just gets shrugged off reminded me of The Vampire Diaries. The negligent headmaster reminded me of Albus Dumbledore... All together, if you just go with the premise, this book is FUN! It's action-packed, sentimental, has great characterization, and sizzling romantic leads... I'm along for the ride. I feel like something I've been missing for a very long time was finally found. I needed a fantasy frolic that was equal parts humor, danger, passion and honor. Don't go into this one too seriously; accept it for what it is, and then have a good time!

A fantastical, sinister, Gothic-adjacent adventure! There was a lot to like:

- The specialized, magical caste system reminded me a lot of The Grishaverse, especially the soldier-class Hawks, who can both inflict and heal wounds (Corporalki, much?).

- The Crows' witchcraft depending upon the collection of teeth, or the Vultures requiring something that belongs to another person in order to magically track them, or the shambling skin-ghasts, had a great, voodoo-esque, creepy and visceral vibe.

- Even though this was a fantasy escort mission, it was also a tale about systemic racism. (Even the use of the word "Crows" to name the most downtrodden caste, /smart/!) I looooove a fantasy story that highlights a real situation, and opens a dialogue for the readers. This book did an amazing job of showing how overthrowing one villain, or passing one edict, won't change an entire system of thought, ESPECIALLY when the people in power refuse to even acknowledge that there IS a systemic problem in the first place. But small, compassionate acts are infectious, and changing one heart at a time can lead to whole cascades of change.

- This book also took amazing strides to normalize LGBTQA representation!!! High. Praise! Too often, a book includes LGBTQA characters' identity and orientation as a source of conflict, or as sidekick representation. A friend is gay, or a prince who is betrothed is secretly gay, or a knight is revealed to be trans - something to that effect. If the queer representation is positive, it's usually a secondary character. Otherwise, the protagonist is undergoing some kind of self-discovery, is in turmoil, is hiding a piece of themselves, or society has made their very being taboo... But THIS book, GLORIOUSLY, just... has people being people. The prince is gay, awesome, the nobles send their sons to court him. A general has both husbands and wives, yey polyamory! We have he's, and her's, and they's in the Crows' caravan, and nobody bats an eye. Part of the fabric of this world! Nobody is ashamed of their gender identity or sexual orientation, it's not stigmatized in this world. A++++ writing!!!!

- This book also gets a round of applause for sex-positivity, and modeling healthy habits, in a YA novel! Yey! Use protection, ask for consent, and girlies can be frank with the dudes in their lives about their needs for That Time of the Month! Be smart, be safe, be sympathetic. Win, win, win! And when all is said and done, no matter how much you love each other, or desire each other, don't pin your entire identity and life's trajectory on your relationship; be your own person, first. Winninnnnng!

But for all that there was to love about this book... I feel like I wasn't IN love with it. I need to knock off half a star. There was something technical holding me back from getting lost in the book. Maybe it was the tropes. I mean: Enemies to lovers; Secret Half-Blood Prince; The first "safe" place our heroes count on holing up betrays them; Dead Moms; Wicked step-mother; Our heroes bond over teaching someone how to duel/read; The mentor figure gets compromised/dies so our hero needs to flounder around in the wilderness; Cat sidekick for our bishoujo...

Maybe it was Prince Jasimir's tonal and motivational whiplash. His growth over the course of the book isn't linear, and he is very difficult to grasp at times, as he waffles between sympathy and selfishness. That's not unrealistic, it's just... difficult to follow. His path goes like this:
- I am devout, I believe in my gods, my king, my countrymen, and my best friend/body double. Because I believe in the system, the system must be morally Right. Nobody would ever break the law. Well, except my wicked step-mother who's trying to assassinate me. And filthy Crows, ew gross. And us, I guess, for faking our own deaths, but we didn't /want/ to break the law! I'm Good, you're Bad!
- If the kingdom doesn't like Crows, why don't Crows leave the kingdom? Why call someplace that doesn't want you here your "home".... I ask while on the run from the queen and her soldiers who don't want me here...
- There must be a reason Crows suffer, or the gods wouldn't allow it. The Crows must deserve their cursed life. They must be inherently worse than me... I say while riding in a Crow wagon, eating Crows' food, begging for Crows to protect me with their witchcraft, rescuing a Crow's pet cat, and teaching a Crow how to read.
- My friend got hurt protecting a Crow! I'm jealous this Crow gets all the attention! I forsake my oaths to kingdom, gods, and countrymen. I break all the laws! I don't care, I just want my friend to be safe, and to value me more than you! Ew Crows!
- Just kidding, he was never my best friend. I abused my power and made him jump through hoops for me purely because I'm attention-starved. You see, my father loves him more than me. My best friend is actually my half-brother, and I remind him of his bastardy every single day by lording power over him! I knew the king was a macho monster the whole time. I have zero faith in anybody, and no desire to be prince, and yet I follow my father's abusive footsteps every chance I get.
- Just kidding, my integrity means everything. Crowy is my new best friend. Let's go save my brother and my dad! I will do whatever you say, Crow!

... You see? He starts out, seemingly, a pampered prince with no concept of life outside the palace, who gradually struggles to reconcile with reality, and sympathize with a marginalized race of people - his subjects, people he is sworn to protect!... But then all this melodrama comes out about how he wasn't as naive as he pretends to be, and is instead a needy coward who wants praise and no problems... Then, immediately after his confession, he turns his life around completely, and chooses to be the total opposite of who he's been. It's just...sudden. More of a Pokemon evolution than a character arc.

But I honestly don't think tropes or transitions were the whole of the problem. What I think got to me more was how dense and confusing the book was at times. A story beat would be played out like an epiphany for the characters, but I would have no clue what they had just figured out. More than once, I had to go back and reread. Or, a piece of the world-building would, it seemed to me, have inconsistencies, so I would be pulled out of the moment, trying to piece together how the magic worked. Too many times I was forced to stop and /analyze/ what I just read, instead of enjoying the flow of the book.

BUT ALL IN ALL, a solid, worthy read. I am SO excited to get to the sequel!

More spectacle than substance, this book fails its characters, premise and fanbase in almost every way. (This is the second, highly disappointing, trilogy-concluding book titled "Gods and Monsters" that I've read this year. I feel like the title is cursed, and should be retired.)

Spoilers ahead:

The primary protagonists, Lou and Reid, and the primary /antagonist/, Morgane, spend almost THE ENTIRE BOOK (a good 535 pages out of 612) with amnesia, controlled by a body-snatcher, or some combination of the two, so that they are both A) Acting completely out of character, and B) Not exercising free will.
...
Once more: THE MAIN CHARACTERS are NOT themselves and have ZERO agency in how the story concludes.
...
This is not a third installment in a trilogy, it is a fanfiction. Yes, WHAT IF Lou were possessed and WHAT IF Reid were still racist and WHAT IF Morgane never had a daughter and - Oh yes, I've seen this show on Disney+, it's called "What If", now can we PLEASE get back to Gods & Monsters?!?!

Side note, the quirky gods claiming they can't intervene on behalf of humanity, ...who then intervene constantly in our heroes' favor, further rob the main characters of any agency. The peekaboo games the gods and monsters all play in this book is maddening. Don't appear for the majority of the trilogy, show up to make a dramatic save and deliver a lecture on why they won't be doing that again, bail for another few hundred pages, do it AGAIN before book's end! They have an inordinate impact on the plot, but aren't sympathetic characters because we barely spend any page time with them! All of their heroic beats should have been given to actual main cast members, whose powers /evolved/ with their emotional maturity! You know. Character arcs! Symbolism! Power of love and friendship! The gods and monsters are sparkly nonsense, distractions and deus ex machinas.

And as was my problem with Blood & Honey, Lou and Co. pass The Idiot Ball around for much of the book. "What's the plan?" "Wing it!" "And when that doesn't work?" "I don't know, make a joke about sex?" The most grating example being Lou's "attempts" at snapping Reid out of his amnesia... by seducing him. You remember, Lou, that Reid is prudish, bashful, and gets angry and defensive when out of his comfort zone? And that witches, in his addled brain, have been stereotyped as evil seductresses?! Stop feeding his phobia! You don't honestly believe that all he loves about you are your breasts, do you? That preying on his weakness for forbidden lust will reveal to him his true self?! You can't be this shallow. Show kindness, compassion - literally anything, any of the actual character traits he fell in love with. "Sexy" is not a character trait. ALSO also, seducing someone who is not in complete control of their faculties (she even gets him DRUNK on top of his enchantment!) is a little rapey! I don't care if he SHOULD BE the love of your life, or if he was once amorous with you, be respectful of the person he has become. (A universal relationship lesson: Relationships change, especially after enduring a traumatic event. Be compassionate, patient, sensitive, and accepting of change...) Be a PERSON, not a BODY! (Which, okay haters, eventually DOES happen, but not because LOU is aware of it. She accidentally triggers Reid's memories. Her naivete of their own love story, what makes them THEM besides physical acts taken, is infuriating. She really doesn't understand who they are below surface level? I call Shenanigans.)

Yes, this book says a FEW good things about grief and love, and the way to banish the dark passenger of the former, is to make oneself vulnerable to the presence of the latter. And for a hot minute, everyone looks back on who they were in books 1 and 2, at the atrocities committed and biases believed, and they all get to decide how they want to grow and who they want to be...
Which apparently is murderers and thieves XD. They all want to be murderers and thieves! They learned nothing.
Also... I can't help noticing:
- Protagonist wracked with grief is filled with a shadowy passenger who takes control of their body when triggered.
- A dragon shifter woman flies to the rescue.
- A grieving witch is followed around by a white wolf/dog until she makes peace with the loss of her friend/love, causes a flood, and then moves on with her love life.
Guys.... The first half of this book is just knockoff King of Scars/Rule of Wolves. Did Shelby Mahurin and Leigh Bardugo go on the same writer's retreat? Start with the same set of NaNoWriMo prompts? What is happening, here? Not that either author has a monopoly on talking about grief, magic, floods or dragons... It's just eerie how similar they are on the surface.
I think Rule of Wolves did it better, because the spectacle of magic wasn't the most important part; the magic was a cathartic expression of the emotional journey each character had undergone over MULTIPLE BOOKS. Gods & Monsters, sometimes their magic is an appropriate metaphor for their emotional state, but often it's just a shiny THING that's there, because - circling back to the top - the characters have taken a vacation from being themselves. Look at this dragon, look at this naked merperson, look at this tree guy, look at this old lady who popped out of nowhere - look at anything except our main characters, and their pain, and the /choices/ they must make. Literally, they have turned invisible. Delay delay, glittery filler.

But regardless of what this book tries to say about grief... I'm disappointed that it doesn't live up to Serpent & Dove in what it says about respecting differences! In S&D, Lou and Reid were both flawed, biased, stubborn, aggressive, fearful people who somehow, despite it all, overcame their prejudices, and learned to respect and even love one another. And theirs was an example to all, inspiring their friends over the course of the trilogy. But bottom line, everyone was right, and everyone was wrong. No one is perfect, everyone can grow if they lead with compassion. But by the final battle, the book comes down very hard on, "Some people are WRONG wrong, and deserve to die." There is no compassion, it is slaughter in the streets for anyone not of the right tribe. The different religions aren't honored in any way - in fact, a god falls into Hell, for lack of a better description XD. And when the dust settles, and the kingdom is in ruins and chaos and could really use a compassionate leader right about now... our heroes retire to their invisible, impenetrable, fairytale castle and throw a wedding.

WHICH bugged me for whole other reasons! Why is Lou and Reid's wedding narrated by Ansel, instead of Lou or Reid? Wasn't Ansel laid to rest? Isn't it torture for him to be brought back by Lou and Reid's longing? He wanted to rest! And why is this book series LGBTQA positive, but then all the main characters are neatly paired heterosexual couples with wedding bells almost certainly in all of their futures, and the LGBTQA are a side-lined dragon, and Ansel who has... a ghost boyfriend? I thought Ansel was hot for Coco? Is he bi? Why are we getting this reveal in an Epilogue? Why are we getting this reveal at all?! Everyone needs to be paired to live happily ever after?!?!!

And some things are left UNresolved! Madame Sauvage required three favors. She wanted to witness a kiss. Done. She wanted Reid to plant seeds. Not done. And then she never stated the third favor! What if she comes back in a year and demands Reid and Lou's firstborn child!?!?! Why is she not angry that Reid forsook his quest/payment?! How come the seeds that spilled in Cesarine don't take root, and create a sister enchanted woods that communicates with Chateau Le Blanc, a nice metaphor for the growing unity between the races/religions?! Do Beau and Coco get married and unite the country in more ways than sentiment?! So many questions!!!

Characters out of character. emotional beats weakened by confusing or convenient magical elements, an onslaught of secondary characters who lack depth, and a moral core abandoned in favor of a /different/ lesson, all jumble together to make this one unfocused, dissatisfying, ending.

"Uniformity is not unity. Silence is not peace."

I was literally crying by the end of this book ;___;. It's magnificent, and SO important, and ought to be required middle/high school reading. There is so much to love and unpack and discuss! It's a tale about community, empathy, and the value of diversity. A tale about imperialism, assimilation and cultural erasure, and about immigration and the struggle to both honor one's roots and find one's self. It's about inherited prejudice, and balancing the love for a parent with the disillusionment with their flaws. It's a story about history erasing the accomplishments of women, denying the intelligence of women or the roles they can play in humanity's story besides Mother and Daughter. It's an LGBTQA positive story, with an Ace deuteragonist who isn't depicted as an emotionless robot, and many many examples of platonic physical affection - I am starting to cry just typing this ;_;. THERE IS SO MUCH LOVE IN THIS BOOK! It is a VERY emotionally intelligent book. Characters strive to sympathize with each other, to understand one another, to forgive one another, to effect changes in the world that help one another...

AND it's a fantasy! A beautiful, rich, full world with religions, and history, and rituals, and poems, and magical creatures, and magic spells, and magical transportation... All with nods to African and Asian cultures, celebrating what makes them beautiful. Even the smallest descriptions are the biggest accomplishments. Tarisai gets out of a bath, and her naturally frizzy hair has poofed into "a cloud", and her friend calls her beautiful. How many times have I read about a black girl's natural hair being called beautiful in a YA book? Literally never, this is the first! Why is that? HOW is it that employers /I/ have worked for STILL consider natural black hair to be sloppy and against company dress code?! This. Book. Is. EVERYTHING! Young people need to hear they're beautiful. Readers need to see their reflections in what they read. And the world needs this book. If one heart, and one mind, can be changed... imagine what might follow.

I don't want to pigeonhole this book with that last example. Books with a black protagonist, a focus on black history, black authors, black bookshop owners - they all face a bias in the industry and get shunted into a single category, as if they're only for a black audience. Ridiculous. Empathy is not skin-deep. I am a marshmallow-white girl, and I am crying like a baby right now, because I care about this book so d--- much. Literally EVERYONE who picks up this book is going to find something that resonates with them.

"I only know the world is big, and I am sick of pretending it's smaller." GO READ!