Charade

by Cambria Hebert

[Angie]

Charade is one of those sequels that simply doesn’t make sense half of the time. Not because it’s confusing, or that we don’t learn anything new, but because the characters make stupid decisions for no reason other than to create more conflict. It’s a few weeks later, and Heven and Sam are being followed by demons. Obviously, they want the scroll, which Heven is not handing over. Meanwhile, Sam’s brother isn’t taking his change too well, and is acting weirdly toward Heven. The Italy trip can’t come soon enough so they can be rid of the scroll and get back to regular life.

The first half of Charade is actually really boring. It’s a lot of demons telling Heven to give them the scroll and haunting her dreams. But they can’t touch her because of Sam, so there’s really no threat at all. Then Heven is fighting with Kimber (again) because she thinks Cole is cheating with her. That is definitely not the case, but Heven refuses to tell her why Cole is over her grandma’s house a lot. There was no reason for her not to tell her, especially if she wanted to salvage their relationship. It felt like a forced fight, just to isolate Kimber, have her fall into the wrong hands, and screw everything up.

The second half of Charade does pick up a bit because they’re finally in Rome! And evil is lurking in unexpected places. Of course, things can’t be so easy as just dropping off the scroll and walking away. There are complications, and then I had a thought. Wouldn’t the scroll have been safer with Heven and Sam this entire time? They were doing a really good job of keeping it out of demon hands, even if they were constantly under attack. But, by them taking it somewhere, they can be seen! Someone can take it! And that’s exactly what they were trying to avoid! What is the point of that?!

Charade does end on a cliffhanger. Heven, Sam, and Cole are trying to fix things, but things go wrong again and someone gets left behind. Clearly, Tirade shall be the rescue mission book!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.