2.5*
I was super excited about this sequel, as I found myself a fan of Dividing Eden last year. This one fell a bit short for me, but I was still glad I read it. Let's break it down, shall we?
What I Liked:
- Carys is awesome, and I kind of wanted to read all the chapters from her POV. Andreus just irked me- and I am well aware that he was supposed to- and Carys and her adventures and her friends were definitely exciting to read about.
- There were definitely twists I didn't see coming. I liked that there was still so many things to discover about the characters, about the royal families, and even about Carys and Andreus's personalities.
- I liked when Carys & Company were on the run. Not even sure why, but fleeing and hiding just appeals to me, and I liked that she had to basically play dead.
What I Didn't:
- Andreus, why you so boring, my dude? Seriously, this guy wonders why he's only got a few loyal subjects, and I may have a few ideas. You tried to off your sister and you're about as exciting as paint drying, so... But he did get one of my favorite characters on his side, so I guess there's that.
- Speaking of Andreus, I could not keep all the random "Elders" straight in his POV chapters. And normally I'd just ignore them, but they were important to the outcome of the story. But once you've met one random, undeveloped old guy, you've met them all... or something?
- The romance did not work for me. I think in book one, I saw the romance going a certain way. In book two, it went in another, and the character it focused on, well, I didn't really feel anything for him. Basically, I felt the love interest was too underdeveloped for me to much care about him.
- The pacing was kind of inconsistent. It started off on the slower end, but by the end twenty different things were happening and I was kind of confused.
Bottom Line: While I am glad to have some conclusion to the series, it just wasn't as strong as the first book in plot or character development.