Endless Knight (Arcana Chronicles, #2)

by Kresley Cole

In the second book of the Arcana Chronicles Evie has now fully come into her powers as the tarot Empress. And Jackson was there to see it all. In the aftermath of killing Arthur, the tarot Alchemist, Evie realizes that a war is brewing between the other teens that, following the apocalypse, have been given powers and its kill or be killed. Things get even more complicated when Evie meets Death, the mysterious, sexy Endless Knight. Somehow the Empress and Death share a romantic history - one that Evie can't remember, but Death can't forget. She is drawn to the Endless Knight, but is in love with Jack. Determined to discover why she's been granted these powers, Evie struggles to accept her place in a prophecy that will either save the world, or completely destroy it.

• ISBN10: 1442436689
• ISBN13: 9781442436688
• Publish Date: 2 September 2014 (first published 1 October 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Edition: Reprint ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

I first read/listened to Endless Knight back in 2018. Four years later, I’m finishing a re-read of the book because the last book in the series is coming out later in 2022. I can’t wait! I need a refresher on the series before the final book is released.

Storyline/My Thoughts: Kresley Cole has built up this fantastic dark, twisted dystopian world even more in Endless Knight. She also throws even more drama and a crazy twist at the end, which I wasn’t expecting for the kids that are Arcana card characters. This is just one of many reasons why I can dive into anything that Kresley writes and know I will have difficulty returning to reality. I feel like I’ve been sucked into the world that Kresley Cole created, and I don’t want to get out, even though I should with the Arcana Chronicles. It is a dystopian world, but I like the characters so much that I want to be with them. 

It also didn’t help that the narrator, Emma Galvin, of Endless Knight made it hard to get back to reality as well. She made the story and characters come to life in my head. If there is one thing I would recommend is listening to the series more than reading it. The narrator is fabulous for these books!!!

Evie is not the scared little girl in Endless Knight. She’s unalived her first Arcana card, but she had every reason to because he was a horrible person. She even saved some other girls from what he planned on doing with them. Evie’s matured quite a bit since the first book because now she’s grown into the Empress. She’s accepting her powers and actually learning more about them. The only thing is she’s afraid she’ll turn into the ‘Red Witch’ from the past game, and she will do anything to prove to the other card characters she’s not that same character. She doesn’t want to be a part of the dark game, and she’ll prove to everyone she doesn’t let the gods decide on her fate. She wants to form alliances with the other cards and take down the one person who has invaded her mind since the beginning of the Flash. Death, himself. I enjoyed reading her character in the second book.

Jackson Deveaux grew on me in this one too, but in the end, I was aching for Death (or otherwise known as Arik). Fair warning, there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the story that will leave you wanting to read the next book immediately, especially learning why Death has it out for Evie. Death is the perfect morally grey character that you will love to hate. I know I didn’t like him at first until he unveiled the truth to Evie about why he didn’t like her very much. He has every reason not to like or even trust her. Poor Evie. She goes through a lot in this story because Kresley doesn’t ever make it easy for the characters. However, Arik is one sexy character who fits the Death character very well. I know towards the end of this book, I’ve switched from Team Jack to Team Death. I know I’ll flip flop again after Jack goes over his side of the story with Evie on why he did what he did in the first book. 

I also thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the other cards in the story, and I can’t wait to see who has an alliance with Evie and her gang even more in the following story. Nope, not giving anything away.

This was a great sequel to the first book, and I’m anxious to find out what happens next with Evie, Jack, Arik, Matthew, etc. 

I give this book 4.5 stars and look forward to re-reading the third book next in the series.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Arcana Chronicles, and I highly recommend reading in order.

Would I recommend this book/series? Yes. I highly recommend it to readers of the Young Adult Dystopian genre of the mature audience because there is a sex scene and some minor cussing in the book. These characters are very mature, but they have to be in the setting they are in, unfortunately.

[liz089]

Loved it all over again. Especially the second half of the book when she is with Aric/Death 3 Even though that part was a bit slower (less action-packed) I really liked their tension.
I still can't understand the attraction to Jack.. he lied, they fight all the time and barely talk to each other.. Just leave him and go for Aric. This really should not be a hard choice.
But well.. Now I can FINALLY get started on the third book !!

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I started this series a little late. I picked up book one last year just before the third book came out. Then several people read it and talked about a cliffhanger at the end of it, so I decided not to get in any kind of hurry to get through this series. I wanted to be caught up about the time book four came out. Well, book four is expected to come out in May (though no title or cover yet, so hmmm??). I thought it was time to start working my way towards that goal.

I’m not a huge fan of YA, but I seem to do better with dystopian YA series. I think it is because they are outside of the school settings. Plus, the teenagers are forced to grow up a little quicker than they would if they were just “normal” teenagers. Could also be that the YAs that I’ve tried have come highly recommended, like this series. Plus, I love Kresley Cole. I listen to both her Immortals After Dark series and her Game Maker series.

If you’re not familiar with this series, it starts off “normal” in book one. Then there is The Flash that changes everything. The climate isn’t the same and plants don’t want to grow. There are now “bagmen” who are like zombies. Lastly, our main character, Evie, has changed. She now has powers. She’s not the only one. There are different “cards”, others players in this game who all represent different tarot cards. Evie is the Empress. They will all have to fight and kill each other until there is one left standing. This isn’t like The Hunger Games, more like The Highlander, “there can be only one”. This “game” has been played several times in the past. Only a few select cards have memory of the past games.

In this story, Evie, has a lot going on. Not only is she still trying to figure out who is friend and who is foe, she also has some romance going on. Jackson Deveaux, a Cajun boy that she’s known she before The Flash. While he is a “normal” he has deemed himself her protector and pushes himself into this game that he really has no part in. Then there is Death, one of the players in the game who does remember the past games. He also has a quite the love/hate relationship with Evie. She has betrayed him in past games. But, she is also the only woman that he can touch without killing.

A lot happens on their journey in this story. This story is also pretty gruesome, especially for a YA story, much darker than either of Kresley Cole’s adult series that I’ve read. Evie and her group have to fight with a group of cannibals and some of the things that these cannibals have done are very much cringe worthy, even for a horror reader like myself.

There is also a sex scene in this story. There was very close to a second one. This is something that I’ve read in some YA series, but it is generally missing in most. I will commend Ms. Cole for pushing the importance of contraception even during this time where things like condoms would be hard to come by. In adult stories, I’m a little indifferent to whether or not they are mentioned, but I do think it is important for books that are targeting a group of people who are just starting to go down the road of exploring this part of their life.

I’ve really enjoyed this series so far. I almost didn’t pick it up because my pickiness with YA series. I’m really glad that it came so highly recommended by several of my friends. This is not a standard YA series. It is a lot darker than I expected. It is a very complex world with extremely well developed characters. They all have very hard choices to make to survive this new world that they live in. You can bet that I will be picking up the next book very soon.

Narration
This is the first series that I’ve listened to with Emma Galvin. I think she has done a great job with the narration of this series so far. There are several different characters that she has had to voice in some pretty tough situations and I thought she did a flawless job. The scene in the pantry of the cannibals in one that stands out with me. One with a guy named Tad who had been in the pantry for a while. That scene is very moving.

[Amber]

I adored Poison Princess when I read it last year, and I have been waiting months to get my hands on Endless Knight. I needed to know what happened after Evie discovered how to use her powers, and what Jackson would think! I had also heard that we'd be meeting Death properly in this one, so of course that was exciting stuff. But, Endless Knight falls flat. I am so disappointed in this instalment that I almost want to cry.


Full review on Books of Amber

[Kelly]

4.5 Stars
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2013/10/endless-knight-by-kresley-cole-arc.html
I loved Poison Princess, the first novel in Kresley Cole's The Arcana Chronicles. but I inhaled Endless Knight. It was absolutely brilliant, much more engaging and leaves you on the edge of your seat. Evie had survived The Flash, leaving her home, her mother's spirit and lost friends behind, to travel across the country to find her grandmother, who has the answers she needs. Jackson, the handsome Cajun is determined to deliver Evie on the promise he had made to her mother. Evie is The Empress card within a deadly Tarot deck in which the chosen ones fight to become the lone survivor... And Immortality. Evie was eight years old when her grandmother would speak of the Tarot, but after she was committed, presumed crazy, Evie lived her teen years as a regular girl. She doesn't remember the rules of the game, or her fellow competitors and she certainly can't tell Jackson.

Their travels have brought them to the attention of players within the game, resulting in the alliance with Selena, Mathew and Finn. But in Endless Knight, Evie certainly comes into her own. She's stronger, independent and doesn't need Jackson's protection. We meet several new characters, all belonging to the Acana but the most intense by far, is Death. Death isn't a villain, despite his best intentions, he'll challenge Jackson for your affections. He's well bred, well read and the thinking girl's sex symbol.

Kresley Cole has done what few authors can, created a second series installment that is even better than the first. I absolutely loved it, but be warned, it does end on a slight cliffhanger that will tear at your emotions and alliances.