[A quick note: Not everyone knows that this series is only available in paperback through amazon. As a hardcover collector, I was thrilled when I discovered that you can get the hardcovers through Barnes and Noble. I sprayed the edges on mine. And they turned out stunning. If you want to spray your own edges, check out the DIY sprayed edges blog I posted! If you haven't read the first book, this review will contain spoilers. You can read my review on From Blood and Ash here.]
✨ “𝙉𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣, 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙚𝙧...𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙄’𝙢 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚, 𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.” —Casteel (JLA)✨
Poppy feels betrayal when she learns that everything she knew was a lie, even the man she was falling for. Casteel. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. She will do everything to fight him, but when he approaches her with an arrangement she cannot refuse, she discovers that her heart and her head have two different priorities. Unrest is growing throughout Atlantia, and now Poppy is at the center of it. Her life is more in danger than ever before, and this time, her prince might not be able to save her.
Looking for a book hangover? Here you go! There’s enough romantic angst, sexual tension, and delicious banter to make any heart flutter. While the writing in this series can be repetitive at times, its one of those addictive books you CANNOT put down. It’s impossible. It keeps you wanting more, more, more. I loved seeing Poppy come into her own. Her developing abilities, her identity, her strength. This was certainly a coming-into-ones-own sort of story. The political tension drove the plot forward while all of this was happening, and ended on a crescendo that made me want to throw my book at the wall. But ohhhh so good.
I’m all for steamy romance. This book was spicy. All my favorite books have spice. I don’t know what it is about the banter and the build up, but Poppy and Casteel are easy characters to fall for. And the growing they did together, getting to know one another better, sharing their pasts, their hurts, their secrets. It was fulfilling and it allowed their romance to feel real and well developed.
I also loved the plot. I enjoyed how we got to see more of the political side, learn more about the misconceptions surrounding the Ascended. And it became very clear that Poppy’s traumatic childhood event was far more than a simple “Craven attack” based on who she turned out to be at the end of the book. I couldn’t wait to see more glimpses of her Atlantian abilities, just to try and figure out what or who she descended from.
While this book (like the first) was a little wordy at times, repetitive in a few places, and sometimes long winded, that really didn’t take away from my reading experience as much as it did with FBAA. This one felt a little more tense, and I actually enjoyed it more than the first.
I think anyone who enjoys SJM’s ACOTAR series, or who likes spicy fantasy is going to love this series. And thank the gods I only have about 15 days to wait for the third book. I’m dying over here. 𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝟰.𝟱/𝟱⭐️