#Review - Shadow's Bane by Karen Chance #Urban Fantasy

Series: Dorina Basarab (#4)
Format: Paperback, 624 pages
Release Date:  July 31, 2018
Publisher: Berkeley
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Vampires / Paranormal

Half-human, half-vampire Dorina Basarab is back—and facing her biggest challenge yet in the next urban fantasy in the New York Times bestselling series.

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. As one of the Vampire Senate’s newest members, Dory already has a lot on her plate. But then a relative of one of Dory’s fey friends goes missing. They fear he’s been sold to a slaver who arranges fights—sometimes to the death—between different types of fey.

As Dory investigates, she and her friends learn the slavers are into something much bigger than a fight club. With the Vampire Senate gearing up for war with Faerie, it’ll take everything she has to defeat the slavers—and deal with the entirely too attractive master vampire Louis-Cesare….

Story Locale: Alternate New York City

Series Overview: The New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series featuring half-vampire, half-human Dorina Basarab in a world of vampires, mages, werewolves, and fae.

Shadow's Bane is the fourth installment in author Karen Chance's Dorina Basarab series. This is a story that kicks into high gear almost immediately with a flashback to 1458 Venice with Mircea and a much younger Dorina. Readers who have gotten this far in the series know that Mircea is not the best father in the world. In fact, he's kind of an ass, truth be told. I think he actually loves Dorina, but he kinda played God, and now the two parts of Dorina are at war with each other. Also, please do not just skip over these parts of the story as they are definitely part of the larger picture.

As we get to alternative New York City, where the story mainly takes place, Dory is part of a group that deals with slave traders, and ends up deep into one conflict after another. Dory, who's vampire side has found a seat on the Vampire Senate, has found a home with her best friend Claire, who also has a unique blend of some interesting bloodlines. I especially love how strong she's gotten, and one not to be taken lightly by any means. Dory is also experiencing painful memories via Dorina, her alter-ego, and the strongest of the two of them. 

Dorina is close to the surface and able to do some interesting things. Dory believes that it's only a matter of time before she loses her self to Dorina's will power and is gone forever. Dory's allies include Olga, a troll who wants to find the traders who caused her so much pain and suffering. Then there is the romance between Dory and Louis-Cesare, a master vampire and member of the Vampire Senate who has dealt with Dory's craziness for sometime now. There is a lot of ups and downs emotionally between the couple, but hopefully they will be able to move forward after everything that happens.

I am going off script a bit due to the fact that 1) it has been 6 years since the previous Dorina book (Fury's Kiss) was published, and 2) it seems that somehow I bought the third book, but never got around to actually reading it, and 3) there is a novella that was also released between books 3 & 4 that I also haven't read #EpicFail, and 4) you should really read Shadow's Bane and Cassie Palmer's Ride the Storm back to back since they are tied together.

*Per the publisher & author, the Cassie Palmer series and Dorina Basarab novels are interconnected, with characters from both making appearances in each series, and this story picks up after Ride the Storm left off, making it a must read for fans of Karen’s Cassie Palmer series. The author has a chart that readers can follow to know what books to read and when. More times than not, the books pick up where Cassie's left off, or vice versa.

This story is filled with humor, romance, alternating timelines, plenty of action, suspense, and mysteries. I do hope it doesn't take the author another 4-6 years to come out with the next Dorina book. Hey, I'm getting up there in age, I don't know if I can keep going at this pace of reading 200-300 books a year. I do have one or two minor negatives, mostly dealing with how much time Dory spends hurt, or passed out. I don't mind the fight scenes. They are the best part of the story. I never learned who the Blonde and Purple villains were that were supposed to assassinate Dory. Did anyone else? At 600+ pages, this book is a monster. I think the author could have edited out a few hundred pages and still had an enjoyable story. 

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#Review - Sea Witch by Sarah Henning #YALit #Fantasy

Series: Standalone
Format: E-Galley, 368 pages
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Fairy Tales & Folklore

Wicked meets The Little Mermaid in this thrilling YA fantasy debut that reimagines the origin story of the sea’s most iconic villainess.

Ever since her best friend, Anna, died, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. Hiding her talents, mourning her loss, drowning in her guilt. Then a girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore, and the two girls catch the eyes of two charming princes. Suddenly, Evie feels like she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend harbors secrets of her own.

 She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, without Evie’s help. But when Evie reaches deep into the power of her magic to save her friend’s humanity—and her prince’s heart—she discovers, too late, what she’s bargained away.

Sarah Henning's Sea Witch is being sold as Wicked meets The Little Mermaid. I think it's fair to call this a villains origin story. The villain being Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Sea Witch is set in 19th century Denmark where a hatred and fear of witches still exists years after King Christian IV aka The Witch Hunter, put witches to death by burning them. In this story, the fear of witches is still palpable, to the point where our heroine, Evie is an outcast 4 years after her best friend Anna drowned in the cove and nobody could save her. 

Evie is the only daughter of the Royal Fisherman. Nik and Evie have been best friends since forever, and she has saved his life a time or two. While Evie is best friends with Nik, Anna was right by her side until the day she died. Evie may be best friends with Nik, but it is the womanizing, seafaring Crown Prince of Rigeby Bay Iker who Evie has feelings for, but knows he is way out of her league. The story alternates between present and past as the author tries to bring both sides of the story together. It is mostly told from Evie's POV, but Annemett's story is included as well.

After a strange and beautiful girl, Annemette, saves Nik after a storm, Evie believes that her best friend Anna has somehow managed to come back from the dead. The only problem is that Annemette claims she isn't and that as a mermaid, she can only be on land for 4 days before she has to return to the sea from where she came from. Unless she finds true love's kiss, then she can stay. While Mette and Evie quickly become friends, things start to get real. 

Sea Witch cuts close to the bone when it comes to the retelling of The Little Mermaid, and the villainous Ursula. This is a story of friendship between Nik, Anna, and Evie who is about the unluckiest of characters you will find. From the hardship of losing her mother, to having her best friend die, to being scoffed at and scorned by those who live in her village, to being told she isn't worth the salt she walks on and will never be as good as their prince Nik. The only real constant in her life is Tante Hansa, who is a witch, but has been allowed to live thanks to saving the King. This book is a real slow starter. It isn't until the 75% point where things get really interesting, and then the ending just punches you in the kisser. POW! It's fair to say that I felt for Evie when all is said and done, and wished that things could have been different. Then, the story wouldn't have been a villains origin story, would it?

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#Review - The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken #YALit #Dystopian

Series: The Darkest Minds # 4
Format: Hardcover, 576 pages
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian

Five years after the destruction of the so-called rehabilitation camps that imprisoned her and countless other Psi kids, seventeen-year-old Suzume “Zu” Kimura has assumed the role of spokesperson for the interim government, fighting for the rights of Psi kids against a growing tide of misinformation and prejudice. But when she is accused of committing a horrifying act, she is forced to go on the run once more in order to stay alive.

Determined to clear her name, Zu finds herself in an uncomfortable alliance with Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi who could either help her prove her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. But as they travel in search of safety and answers, and Zu grows closer to the people she knows she shouldn’t trust, they uncover even darker things roiling beneath the veneer of the country’s recovery. With her future—and the future of all Psi—on the line, Zu must use her powerful voice to fight back against forces that seek to drive the Psi into the shadows and save the friends who were once her protectors.

 

The Darkest Legacy, by author Alexandria Bracken, is being sold as a companion novel to go along with the release of The Darkest Minds movie based on the book. It has been four years since In The Afterlife was released. In this world, it has been 5 years since the rehabilitation camps that had imprisoned Zu, Chubs, Ruby, & Liam who made up the group known as the Black Betty gang were destroyed. Now, 17, Zu has assumed a role in the interim President's administration hoping that she can make things better for other Psi.

If you've read the first 3 books, and I hope that you have, President Cruz owes all that she has become to those like Zu, Ruby, Chubs, and Liam. Zu, as well as Chubs, who is a member of the PSI Council, believes in fighting for the rights of the PSI kids against a growing tide of discontent brought up by a man who has used misinformation, and prejudice against the PSI's in order to gain national fame. The tide, which had swung in their favor, and granted them national headlines for how they were treated, is about to swing the other way.

After she is nearly kidnapped, and people die in the process of escaping, she's accused of committing a horrifying act of terrorism. Forced to go on the run once more in order to stay alive, and determined to clear her name, Zu finds new allies in Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi's who could either help her prove her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. *I've compared Priya to Vida. They are both prickly characters, but they are also awesome.* As the trio travels in search of safety and answers, Zu once again finds herself on the hunt for Ruby or Liam, and looking back at how it all began, and how the foursome separated and went their own ways.

I have an interesting take on why this book was written. Let's be real for a moment. So, The Darkest Minds was sold, and the movie was going to come out, and there were those who had not read the books. What better way to introduce the books, and the characters like Ruby, Liam, Zu, & Chubs than to release a movie? There are times that I've actually read the books after watching the movie, and more times than not, the movies are better than the books. There are some examples, The Girl on the Train, Jurassic Park, Jaws, The Lord of the Rings.

Anyway! How many times have you heard about an author who gives his or her characters as close to a happy ending as they can, and then they come back 5 years later and completely and utterly tear them apart? I'm not spoiling anything! You can tell by the synopsis that there is something really wrong in this world, again, and the Psi are targeted. Is it any secret that both Ruby and Liam have roles to play? Is it any wonder that Zu becomes the leader who ends up taking Ruby's place and really ends up shining? 

I am glad that the author dove into Lu's abilities as a Yellow. They are really impressive. As are Roman's, and Priyanka's, and Roman's sister Lana. The problem I have with rating this book is that didn't really feel like a standalone, which apparently it's supposed to be. It was a weirdly self-contained story that didn't really feel complete. It felt as thought the story needed another book because of how the author left the story. I don't honestly think we need to have Ruby or Liam in another spin-off, or novella. They've earned their reprieve, so let them walk away. 

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#Review - Orphan X (Orphan X #1) by Gregg Hurwitz #Thrillers

Series: Orphan X (#1)
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date:  January 19, 2016
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Publisher/NetGalley
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Crime

The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It's said that when he's reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them.

But he's no legend.

Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He's also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as part of the off-the-books black box Orphan program, designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence assets---i.e. assassins. He was Orphan X. Evan broke with the program, using everything he learned to disappear.

Now, however, someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training. Someone who knows Orphan X. Someone who is getting closer and closer. And will exploit Evan's weakness---his work as The Nowhere Man---to find him and eliminate him. Grabbing the reader from the very first page, Orphan X is a masterful thriller, the first in Gregg Hurwitz's electrifying new series featuring Evan Smoak. 

 

Orphan X is the first installment in the Orphan X series by author Gregg Hurwitz. I was offered the chance by the publisher to read the first three installments in this series before the 4th book comes out in 2019. Obviously, I accepted the offer. The series follows a man by the name of Evan Smoak, who at the age of 12, was picked up by a man named Jack and trained to become one of a group called Orphans who are sent around the globe to complete specific missions. 

Smoak is called the Nowhere Man, the man thought to be an urban legend and not real. The man you call when you have nobody else to help you. He has been specially trained to be a highly successful assassin, but these days he uses his training to live under the radar, helping those in extreme and dire situations. The only payment he requires is that they 'pay it forward', so to speak, by finding someone else in need of Ethan’s specialized skills so that he can continue fulfilling his mission.  

Smoke lives by a few rules; assume nothing, master your surroundings, never make it personal, and always play offense. But, now someone has Evan in their sights and there is only one kind of person out there who could have located him- another Orphan. Not only has he been found, his ‘clients’ are being used as pawns to fish him out into the open. Evan has to face a man who has had the same kind of training as he did, and therefore, may be the most dangerous mission he's had to take in a very long time. 

While all this is going on, Evan keeps up a facade claiming to be an importer of industrial cleaning supplies. Evan 's fellow neighbors are a rag tag bunch of curious sorts. There is the condo board president (who calls lots of meetings); a nice Jewish lady (who complains a lot about her damaged door); and Assistant District Attorney Mia Hall and her little boy Peter (who takes to sending messages up to Evan's window via balloon). Although it might have seemed reasonable, there is no discernible romance in this story.  

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Evan's Fortress of Solitude is a reinforced, fortress-like, penthouse with all kinds of defensive countermeasures just in case. This includes: a parachute to jump off the apartment's terrace; rappelling equipment to climb down the building's wall; bullet proof windows; a door that can withstand explosives; a hidden back room with surveillance equipment. Evan even has a completely untraceable cell phone so desperate people can call him for assistance. Evan tries to stick to his code, but often times he struggles with doing the right thing. This makes him human, and not a super-being with lots of awesome powers. A nice change from my current crop of books read.

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#Review - Grace and Fury (Untitled #1) by Tracy Banghart #YALit #Fantasy

Series: Untitled # 1
Format: E-Galley, 320 pages
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher/NetGalley
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Epic

Bold, brutal, and beautiful--a must-read fantasy full of fierce sisterhood, action, and political intrigue for fans of The Selection series, Caraval, and The Handmaid's Tale.

Serina Tessaro has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace--someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. It's her chance to secure a better life for her family, and to keep her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, out of trouble. But when Nomi catches the Heir's eye instead, Serina is the one who takes the fall for the dangerous secret her sister has been hiding.

Trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one option: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to save Serina. But this is easier said than done.... A traitor walks the halls of the palazzo, and deception lurks in every corner.

Meanwhile Serina is running out of time. Imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive, surrounded by women stronger than she is, one wrong move could cost her everything. There is no room for weakness on Mount Ruin, especially weaknesses of the heart.

Thrilling and captivating, Grace and Fury is a story of fierce sisterhood, and of survival in a world that's determined to break you. 

 

“For every woman who has been told to sit down and be quiet... And who stood up anyway.”

Grace and Fury is the first installment in what appears to be a duology by author Tracy Banghart. This story delivers a high-stakes plot, along with commentary on feminism and sexism. In Viridia, women are offered few choices. They are not allowed to read, or write. They are not allowed to have their own choices with whom to marry, or whom to love, or which job they are chosen to work as their profession. For sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro, they couldn't be any more different had they tried.

As the story opens, Serina, is chosen to represent her town of Lanos in this years competition. Grace's are held to the highest standard of beauty, elegance, and obedience. 3 Grace's (concubines) are chosen every 3 years. After being chosen, Serina and Nomi, who gets the unwanted job of being handmaiden to her sister, travel to the capital of Bellaqua. For Serina, it is a dream come true. For Nomi, it is a nightmare waiting to happen, especially if she can't keep her secret from being exposed. 

Things quickly change when it is Nomi, not Serina, who is chosen to become one of the Heir's chosen Grace's. Nomi is someone who doesn't mind being invisible, but fate has other ideas for her. In an even more shocking twist, Serina finds herself in deep trouble after being discovered reading from a book. A book that belonged to Nomi! In this world, this feat gets a woman sent to the harshest prison in all of the land. A prison called Mount Ruin.

The story alternates each chapter between Nomi and Serina. It is fair to say that I preferred Serina's POV much more than Nomi's. Serina trained for years to become a Grace, while her sister carried a huge secret, and tossed fits every time she was prevented from going to school alongside her brother. While Nomi hates everything about the world she lives in and rages against the constraints forced upon her. Now, it is Nomi, not Serina who is living the high life & trying to find a way to save her sister.

While Serina is fighting for her survival, Nomi allows her indignity, anger, fear, and defiance to rise up against a broken system that treats women like second class citizens and in my opinion, walks right into a waiting nightmare. Serina, meanwhile, takes her own kind of stand. A stand that was the better half of the two story's. Serina's story is much more action packed, while Nomi's is painful at times knowing that she is going to do something absolutely stupid. 

This is a story about the oppression of women by men, and how the only way “up” in the world is to marry the rich or royal. It is a story about willpower, sisterhood, camaraderie, and survival. Apparently, this is a two book deal. That's a good thing. It means that the author needs to quickly gather readers back into this world, and explain to them how she is going to get Nomi and Serina out of their current predicaments, and not wait 2 more years to wrap up the series. Also, as a warning, Grace and Fury ends on a cliffhanger with the lives of both sisters hanging in the balance.

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#Review - Contagion (Contagion #1) by Erin Bowman #YALit #SyFy

Series: Contagion # 1
Format: E-Galley, 432 pages
Release Date: July 24, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher/Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction

Fans of Alien, Outbreak, and World War Z will love this spine-chilling, zombie horror film-esque novel about a search-and-rescue mission gone terrifyingly wrong.

It got in us and most are dead.

Decklan flew for help.

Don’t trust the kid.

Responding to the distress call was supposed to be a straightforward mission. But when Thea Sadik and her crew land on the distant planet of Achlys, they find destruction and devastation . . . and no survivors.

As they try to piece together the puzzle of who—or what—could have decimated an entire operation, they discover that some SOS messages should be ignored—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

Erin Bowman takes suspense to new levels in this heart-racing first installment in the Achlys duology. Fans of Jonathan Maberry, Rick Yancey, and Madeline Roux will delight in the electrifying horror that Contagion so vividly brings to life.

"Follow the bloody footprints they said. What could possibly go wrong they said." 

Contagion, by author Erin Bowman, is the first installment in what appears to be a duology with the sequel releasing in the Spring of 2019. Contagion is an action-packed, intense, terrifying sci-fi survival story that reads like a zombie horror film. From the opening chapter there’s never a lull in the action, as the crew must confront the demons that await them on Achlys—and the secrets among their own that threaten their survival. Contagion is perfect for fans of flicks like Legend, Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, Outbreak, and Contagion (the homonymous movie). 

Suspense and horror film fans will clamor for this hair-raising novel. Contagion is filled with dynamic characters. From the brilliant young intern (Althea Sadik) who’ll do anything to escape Achlys and reunite with a family she’s not even sure is alive, to the wanna-be military pilot (Nova Singh) who’s crushing on the crew’s captain (Dylan Lowe) who is aware that her father may be on Achlys, to the secretive doctor with a menacing past (Doctor Lisbeth Tarlow), to the mysterious lone survivor (Ceon Rivli) with strange abilities—each of the characters is incredibly vibrant and richly detailed.

Thea is only seventeen and the youngest member on the rescue team to Achlys. Her crew disparages her for her youth and inexperience (and even for being a girl), but she stands up for herself, isn’t afraid to question authority when she doesn’t trust her leaders’ judgment or motivations, and follows her instincts to survive. She’s a fierce protagonist that all readers will root for. Nova spent 18 months training to be the best fighter pilot in the Union, only to be told that she would wash out because of issues with her eyes. Not, unlike Thea, Nova has a whole lot to prove, especially to Dylan who she has a crush on.

One of Contagion's strongest assets is its world building, which shouldn't be surprising if you've read the authors previous series called Taken. There is the abandoned base that on a planet called Achlys, which is months away from where the crew originates. For one of our characters, this is a very familiar place since she was part of the original Black Quarry Project. The author's descriptions of the red smears on the walls, to no sign of any bodies, makes for a very Alien-esque setting. Add frigid temps. and the possibility of toxic air where you must stay in your environmental suits at all times, yeah, I was totally sold.

This is the kind of story where anyone can be a villain, both out of necessity, and out of something else. Will the villain be the Captain who rushes a crew of 7 to a distress signal months away? Or, will it be the brilliant doctor who finally has an intern that she can train? Or, will it be the sole survivor of something so terrifying, that anyone can be infected at a moments notice? For me, Contagion started slowly, but ramped up on the action once the rescue crew makes it to the planet.

Things go south quickly when they realize that they're too late. The crew they've come to help is dead or missing and they have no idea why, and no idea whether they should stay to find out. And, then they meet the mysterious Ceon who I will not talk about. Why? Because anything I can possibly say about him, would border on spoiling other aspects of the story, including the shocking cliffhanger ending.

Will I read the sequel? YES!  You know what happens when you ignore Ripley's warnings? Very, very bad things. So, make sure you pay attention to the warnings before proceeding, or your life may be in jeopardy and you may never get off the planet!

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#Review - Endless Water, Starless Sky by Rosamund Hodge #YALit #Fantasy

Series: Bright Smoke, Cold Fire #2
Format: E-Galley, 448 pages
Release Date: July 24, 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy

Sabriel meets Romeo & Juliet in this romantic and thrilling sequel to Bright Smoke, Cold Fire—from the author of Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound.

In the last days of the world, the walls of Viyara are still falling, and the dead are rising faster than ever. Juliet is trapped—ordered by Lord Ineo of the Mahyanai to sacrifice the remaining members of her family, the Catresou, to stave off the end of the world.

Though they’re certain his plan is useless, Juliet and her former friend Runajo must comply with Lord Ineo’s wishes—unless they can discover a different, darker path to protecting Viyara. Romeo is tortured—finally aware that his true love is alive, he is at once elated and devastated, for his actions led directly to the destruction of her clan.

The only way to redemption is to offer his life to the Catresou to protect them and support them...even if it means dying to do so. When Romeo’s and Juliet’s paths converge once again, only a journey into Death will offer answers, and the key to saving them all—but is it a journey any of them will survive?

 

 

"Death will parlay with those who unlock the gate, pass the reapers, and come to meet her."

Endless Water, Starless Sky is the second and apparent finale to author Rosamund Hodge's Bright Smoke, Cold Fire duology. With its heartbreaking and shocking finale, Bright Smoke, Cold Fire left readers wanting more—and anxiously awaiting the release of this conclusion to the series. This is Romeo & Juliet like you’ve never seen it before. This new series reimagines Shakespeare’s story of feuding families and doomed lovers in a city threatened by necromancers and protected by “the Juliet,” a girl born in every generation with powerful magic.

 

As darkly romantic and epic as ever—Rosamund imbues the classic Shakespeare play with an atmospheric, fantastical mythology. With a dark and treacherous journey into the land of the dead, Endless Water, Starless Sky is perfect for readers who love the epic journeys and immersive world building in Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. This is a story that alternates mainly between Romeo Mahyanai, Juliet Catresco, and Runajo Mahyanai, but there are parts for Paris Catresco as well.

 

Juliet is the one girl in her generation born with incredible fighting skills to punish the enemies of her clan. Over the course of the series, Juliet has put her dangerous combat skills to use, taking down anyone in her path. With Juliet bound to Runajo, she has to do whatever the head of the family wants, including standing by why her own family is annihilated. The necromancer wants to open the gates to the dead and destroy Viyara, the last apparent human city still standing in a world that once again faces ultimate destruction. The story really does spend more time with Juliet than any other character, and I think that's absolutely acceptable. It is Juliet who has to travel to the land of the Dead and face Death herself in what may be the most interesting and twisted part of the entire story.

Meanwhile, Romeo is a fugitive and is also presumed to be dead by Juliet. Romeo chooses to put his loyalty into helping the rival Castresou family stay alive, and rescue those who have already been captured and are now on the brink of being sacrificed. Romeo has no idea that Juliet is the living key that can open the land of the dead and therefore allow the dead to walk freely, but with a twist, he is key to stopping the Ruining from destroying his city and everyone he loves. The dead are refusing to die. They rise again as after 3 days as Revenants; mindless and hungry for the living.

 

Runajo is a former member of the Sisterhood who was disavowed after saving Juliet from the land of the dead. She now is expected to be Juliet's Guardian and lead her as her family head desires. But, Runajo is also a character who is deeply in love with a girl, who loves a boy, who loves a girl, and therefore must try to help another boy the pair consider part of their family. Runajo spends most of the book searching high and low for answers in how to help her people stay alive, and how to rebuild the wall that is sure to fall regardless of the number of blood sacrifices that are offered.

 

There are two other characters who stand out besides the three already named: Paris Catresou, and Vai, the girl who must be a boy for her families sake and is the leader of the King of Cats who live in the lower sector. She is also a champion duelist who may even rival Juliet's skills. I mention the two because there has been a connection between them since the previous book. Vai now fights to get Paris back, while also fighting to keep her people alive, while Paris has been controlled by the Necromancer. He should have been Juliet's Guardian, but things went to hell in a hand basket quickly.

 

With its Shakespearean inspiration, the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is dark, gorgeous, and unbreakable. Readers will love seeing this deep and everlasting romance—and the characters who will do anything for each other. Romeo in book 1 was a lovesick fool, and he remains a fool in this book, but he also gains a family, fights for things other than Juliet. Heck, for most of this series, they aren't even together! The ending to me was a bit on the strange side, and I am all for a bit of strange in our lives to unlock the same ole same old that we normally get in the YA Fantasy Genre.

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