Review: 4.5 stars -- better than the first!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 11, 2013
** Review written for an originally posted on my blog, Book Bliss.I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review**Review: 4.5 starsGeneral: This book was a massive step up from the first in the series. I was so happy to read this and see her quality of writing and storytelling come back to life. This book is far to short though! It picks up immediately where events in the first left off with the cliffhanger ending and there is almost no world building or character development so make sure you do not read this one first as the world is very confusing that way. This was more “mystery” than anything else and it was a great one at that when the plot is finally revealed.This time around the focus was on the plot and the emotions rather than on the world and it was so reliving. I was shocked to find myself quite in love with Dreadmore in this installment, as well as an active interest in liking Kit. BY having the focus actually be on the characters as opposed to on the world building this novel was so much better than the first and I think had the first not been split into two it would have been a much high review for the two together.The only problem I had with this (aside from desperately wanting more now that I liked the characters) was to have the scenes be better played. Much of the action felt rushed and awkward to visualize as a reader and made understanding the big reveal quite a bit difficult on the first read.Characters: Kit- Liking Kit went a long way to making this part so much stronger than the first. In this we finally see her emotions. She is falling in love and with it, learning to trust her emotions. It made her likeable, and while I still don’t love her, I was cheering for her by the books end and hoping and praying it wasn’t a cliffhanger ending again as I wanted this character to have her happiness.Lucien Deathmore: I absolutely loved Lucien. Goosebumps on my arms when he was in the scenes loved him. He is still violent and a force to contend with. But we see his human side – fear, love, playfulness – it made him even better and I hope to see more of him in this light as the series continues.