A review by lesserjoke
The Ever Cruel Kingdom by Rin Chupeco

3.0

In the first volume of this YA fantasy duology, twin sisters raised on opposite sides of a stationary world each fall in love and get caught up in a propulsive plot that brings them and their partners hurtling together in its final pages. This sequel is fun for finally showing those four characters interacting -- and it remains a nice piece of representation that one of the romantic relationships is F/F and the other involves a young man with only one arm -- but there's a little less conflict all around now that everyone's feelings are settled and their epic travels across a Mad Max-style desert are largely behind them. The quartet of viewpoint protagonists all sharing a common space also underscores how similarly author Rin Chupeco has written their voices, which was less evident before.

Ultimately I'm satisfied by how the story resolves here, and the central metaphor of a new generation tackling the climate crisis brought on by their elders is certainly apt, but the narrative hasn't quite grabbed me the way the previous book does.

[Content warning for self-harm, panic attacks, and cannibalism.]

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