Quintessentially Q (Monsters in the Dark, #2)

by Pepper Winters

[Angie]

Quintessentially Q was quite a bit darker than Tears of Tess and much more violent. Tess and Q are together, but then, Tess is kidnapped (again!!!) by someone who wants revenge on Q for a business deal gone sour. This time they're not letting Tess go unbroken. They make her do unspeakable things until she reaches her breaking point. And as much as he may want to, Q might not be able to fully bring her back.

I was a bit annoyed at the beginning of Quintessentially Q, since Tess was being kidnapped by the same group for a second time. It seems improbable, but that damn tracker! I was expecting this kidnapping plot to last the entire book, since there's one more, but it doesn't. Tess is rescued physically, but for the majority of the second half of the book, she's completely trapped by her mind. Her second time in that warehouse was truly horrific. We don't get all of it because of reasons, but Tess' nightmares were enough. It was very upsetting to see her this way, since she had been fighting with all her might, but they just pushed her too far.

Anything else I'd say would probably spoil everything about Quintessentially Q. It was a good follow up to the first book, despite my hesitation in the beginning. Q and Tess really are great for each other. Their relationship may not be seen as "normal" but it's what each of them wants. They understand each other in a way that no one else does, and that's what matters. After that ending though, I had no clue what to expect. In fact, this could have worked as a perfectly good ending to a duology.

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