Scan barcode
brujaphd's review against another edition
4.0
Solid sequel
Enjoyed reading this one, went through it even faster than the first one. But I was a little disappointed by the ending. Felt like it should have been another 200 pages longer.
Enjoyed reading this one, went through it even faster than the first one. But I was a little disappointed by the ending. Felt like it should have been another 200 pages longer.
angieross81's review against another edition
4.0
Well, how can I not continue?! That was a great ending. Really good enjoyed the story and the characters.
sj_elli's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Can't really say much here with it being a sequel except that I adore the new character introduced with Lila's side of the story. I think that I would have given this 5 stars if I had read it physically rather than listened to the audiobook - I think I miss some nuance sometimes when I listen, but the narrators had great voices and I did have a good time listening. The ending was CRAZY and I cannot wait to read the third. A strong second book which is rare if you ask me.
Can't really say much here with it being a sequel except that I adore the new character introduced with Lila's side of the story. I think that I would have given this 5 stars if I had read it physically rather than listened to the audiobook - I think I miss some nuance sometimes when I listen, but the narrators had great voices and I did have a good time listening. The ending was CRAZY and I cannot wait to read the third. A strong second book which is rare if you ask me.
gowanderinbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Wow not what I expected and I loved every second of it!
Our story starts off four months after the fall of the Dane Twins, Rhy and Kell’s lives being spun together and Delilah walking away to find her own adventure. Well it seems that Rhy, Kell and Delilah just can’t stay away from each other or out of trouble. A tournament is to be held in Red London one where those with magic can show off their skills and win glory. Well with some tricks and scheming Kell and Lila are going to partake in the fights and little do they know that it will not only bring them together but it could very well tear them all apart.
Mean while in White London a new king has risen and to our surprise it is Holland who was thought to be dead. Well that is until he makes a deal with the very thing that destroyed Black London. Holland wants to make White London great again but must strike a new deal and it is one that puts Kell and Red London in danger.
I love the line that ends this book which comes from Lila “what ever I am let it be enough”
Our story starts off four months after the fall of the Dane Twins, Rhy and Kell’s lives being spun together and Delilah walking away to find her own adventure. Well it seems that Rhy, Kell and Delilah just can’t stay away from each other or out of trouble. A tournament is to be held in Red London one where those with magic can show off their skills and win glory. Well with some tricks and scheming Kell and Lila are going to partake in the fights and little do they know that it will not only bring them together but it could very well tear them all apart.
Mean while in White London a new king has risen and to our surprise it is Holland who was thought to be dead. Well that is until he makes a deal with the very thing that destroyed Black London. Holland wants to make White London great again but must strike a new deal and it is one that puts Kell and Red London in danger.
I love the line that ends this book which comes from Lila “what ever I am let it be enough”
matthewspoilsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like this book brought the series down as a whole. This book was just filler with hints of underlying doom to set up the third book. Which I wouldn't mind, but this book made me hate Lila.
The first half of the book was extremely frustrating to read through because we were spending so much of it in Lila's perspective. Lila, killing random people, a bad bitch makes you not. And she harmed others for her own selfish gain.
Thankfully, I enjoyed the fighting scenes for the contest in the last third of the book. It reminded me very much of Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, and if you have watched those shows I think it will be easy to visualize while reading.
The first half of the book was extremely frustrating to read through because we were spending so much of it in Lila's perspective. Lila, killing random people, a bad bitch makes you not. And she harmed others for her own selfish gain.
Thankfully, I enjoyed the fighting scenes for the contest in the last third of the book. It reminded me very much of Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, and if you have watched those shows I think it will be easy to visualize while reading.
israfel462's review against another edition
5.0
Just as good as the first time I read it. I am excited for the third!
sneehee's review against another edition
5.0
AHHHHHHH THE CLIFFHANGER NOOOOOOOOOO, but beyond that, this book is SO GOOD. i enjoyed it way more than the first one and honestly a perfect sequel. this series is one of my all time favs and this book is why. just the concept is so much fun: a tournament, like the hunger games or the triwizard, and all the new characters are great and the world building, with neighboring countries and an in-depth look at how the magic works in this world. it's just great.
thoughts:
-i just love rhy's and kell's relationship, even though it can be strained at times, they just understand each other so well and owe each other so much, it's beautiful. i love how much rhy cares for kell, like and actual brother, where his parents are obviously more conflicted and how rhy gets so mad at his father and it constantly speaking up for him and making remarks about the why they treat him compared to how they treat kell. AND HE DOESN'T LET THAT TAINT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH KELL. it's just a situation that would commonly be portrayed backwards, with kell disgruntled at being held at arm's length and taking that out on rhy and rhy maybe being smug or justified about it BUT BUT BUT INSTEAD kell just takes it and rhy is the one getting mad at his parents. what a strong healthy relationship
- i really am not fully understanding emira and maxim's behavior towards kell, honestly it's unjustified for them to treat kell like a criminal or a prisoner and not holding rhy to the same standard which really just shows a lot about how they really regard kell, not as a son but an asset to the throne
- i like how we see rhy and kell and lila all struggle with the events of the first book and the black night stuff, like i feel like we rarely get to see the mental health effects that some of these adventures and novels have on the characters. and we see them all deal with a different loss, a different guilt, especially with kell and rhy's differing views on their soul bond thing. where kell feels bad for tethering rhy to him and becoming a burden and a danger, rhy feels guilt about forcing kell to live on eggshells and being the reason for the tension between kell and maxim and emira. they both are just precious. and then lila still grappling with barron's death and for running without saying goodbye.
-we were waiting WAITING for all the characters to come together and it didn't happen until literally the last fourth of the book. so i like alucard and rhy even though we barely get to see them, i want more, probably will be in the next book. i feel like kell and lila needed more moments together and more of a buildup, i enjoyed them immensely as friends and i just didn't see enough moments of vulnerability and connection for their relationship to be based off, especially with kell pining after her so much after barely knowing her for less than a week in the first book. but the thing with him visiting calla each week to see if lila had returned was so cute and lila and kell bickering is just the best.
-ok lila's powers are so interesting, she's so badass i love it, i really did not see it coming that she could be an antari which was really stupid of me but imagine that, the reason kell is drawn to her?? but wouldn't alucard recognize that since he can see magic, but also her eye was obviously removed, which is like basically a pool of magic so maybe that altered her magic in some way? idk
-i loved emery, he's so snarky and mysterious, interesting pirate, i wanna know more about him. his and kell's antagonism and 'rivalry' was honestly amusing
-tieren really reminds me of a mix between monk gyatso and general iroh from avatar the last airbender but in my head he looks fully like an air nomad monk
-hastra and ned are both such young enthusiastic characters who i loved watching kell interact with , he's honestly such a little shit
-umm everythign going on with white london was so troubling, like we loved seeing it flourish and revitalize especially with holland as ruler (i really want to root for him, like he's not evil, he just is forced into bad situations) but letting in black london and osaron was such an obviously bad move. anyways, i just want both holland and kell to be ok and be friends, they had the potential
-anyways, what's gonna happen when kell somehow gets out of the mess he's in and hopefully rhy is ok and everyone is just safe and everything is awesome and that's not gonna happen but whatever? cool
-oh yeah learning about Vesk and Faro, the countries outside of Arnes was so interesting and it just made the world so much more intricate and vast and it's fun trying to make connections between those characters and peoples and societies back to what we know in real life, mapping out the world and locating the same elements in cultures that actually exist
thoughts:
-i just love rhy's and kell's relationship, even though it can be strained at times, they just understand each other so well and owe each other so much, it's beautiful. i love how much rhy cares for kell, like and actual brother, where his parents are obviously more conflicted and how rhy gets so mad at his father and it constantly speaking up for him and making remarks about the why they treat him compared to how they treat kell. AND HE DOESN'T LET THAT TAINT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH KELL. it's just a situation that would commonly be portrayed backwards, with kell disgruntled at being held at arm's length and taking that out on rhy and rhy maybe being smug or justified about it BUT BUT BUT INSTEAD kell just takes it and rhy is the one getting mad at his parents. what a strong healthy relationship
- i really am not fully understanding emira and maxim's behavior towards kell, honestly it's unjustified for them to treat kell like a criminal or a prisoner and not holding rhy to the same standard which really just shows a lot about how they really regard kell, not as a son but an asset to the throne
- i like how we see rhy and kell and lila all struggle with the events of the first book and the black night stuff, like i feel like we rarely get to see the mental health effects that some of these adventures and novels have on the characters. and we see them all deal with a different loss, a different guilt, especially with kell and rhy's differing views on their soul bond thing. where kell feels bad for tethering rhy to him and becoming a burden and a danger, rhy feels guilt about forcing kell to live on eggshells and being the reason for the tension between kell and maxim and emira. they both are just precious. and then lila still grappling with barron's death and for running without saying goodbye.
-we were waiting WAITING for all the characters to come together and it didn't happen until literally the last fourth of the book. so i like alucard and rhy even though we barely get to see them, i want more, probably will be in the next book. i feel like kell and lila needed more moments together and more of a buildup, i enjoyed them immensely as friends and i just didn't see enough moments of vulnerability and connection for their relationship to be based off, especially with kell pining after her so much after barely knowing her for less than a week in the first book. but the thing with him visiting calla each week to see if lila had returned was so cute and lila and kell bickering is just the best.
-ok lila's powers are so interesting, she's so badass i love it, i really did not see it coming that she could be an antari which was really stupid of me but imagine that, the reason kell is drawn to her?? but wouldn't alucard recognize that since he can see magic, but also her eye was obviously removed, which is like basically a pool of magic so maybe that altered her magic in some way? idk
-i loved emery, he's so snarky and mysterious, interesting pirate, i wanna know more about him. his and kell's antagonism and 'rivalry' was honestly amusing
-tieren really reminds me of a mix between monk gyatso and general iroh from avatar the last airbender but in my head he looks fully like an air nomad monk
-hastra and ned are both such young enthusiastic characters who i loved watching kell interact with , he's honestly such a little shit
-umm everythign going on with white london was so troubling, like we loved seeing it flourish and revitalize especially with holland as ruler (i really want to root for him, like he's not evil, he just is forced into bad situations) but letting in black london and osaron was such an obviously bad move. anyways, i just want both holland and kell to be ok and be friends, they had the potential
-anyways, what's gonna happen when kell somehow gets out of the mess he's in and hopefully rhy is ok and everyone is just safe and everything is awesome and that's not gonna happen but whatever? cool
-oh yeah learning about Vesk and Faro, the countries outside of Arnes was so interesting and it just made the world so much more intricate and vast and it's fun trying to make connections between those characters and peoples and societies back to what we know in real life, mapping out the world and locating the same elements in cultures that actually exist
scarletw0lf's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75