Wildcard ~ November
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
My opinion in three sentences:
After the first in this series, I was very excited to see where things went next. And whilst it was good (and certainly not what I was expecting), it didn’t quite blow my socks off like book one had. Nevertheless, it was vey interesting to see a different array of perspectives and a focus on some of the other characters, although I can’t wait to hear from previous protagonist Rhen again in book three!
(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:
Kemmerer’s world-building is once again strong enough to transport the reader to a fantasy realm and bring to life both the different landscape and the different cultures that our characters find themselves in – helped this time by the fact that we don’t visit “modern-day Earth” again. Regardless of whether we were mid-intense plot point or just ambling through some character development, the visual elements brought out in the writing were luxurious and certainly provided a strong sense of place.
A warning for the book:
The second book most definitely doesn’t live up to the standard of it’s prequel. As a stand-alone, it’s passable (although there’s no real strong leading character), but several of the characters from book one are completely different to before (and not in a way that can be completely chalked up to unreliable narration!)
Recommended for fans of:
- Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
- Heartless by Marissa Meyer
- White Eagles & Firebird by Elizabeth Wein
Dreaming With Your Eyes Wide Open 