e-ARC, 400 pages
Release Date: February 25, 2020Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Read from: February 12-21, 2020Source: Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: Death, KillingFor fans of: Fantasy, Romance, POC MCs, Diverse Authors, Own Voices, Action, YA
In this nail-biting sequel to Tehlor Kay Mejia’s critically acclaimed fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire, La Voz operative Carmen is forced to choose between the girl she loves and the success of the rebellion she’s devoted her life to.
Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation. On the other side of Medio’s border wall, the oppressed class fights for freedom and liberty, sacrificing what little they have to become defenders of the cause.
Carmen Santos is one of La Voz’s best soldiers, taken in when she was an orphaned child and trained to be a cunning spy. She spent years undercover at the Medio School for Girls, but now, with her identity exposed and the island on the brink of civil war, Carmen returns to the only real home she’s ever known: La Voz’s headquarters.
There she must reckon with her beloved leader, who is under the influence of an aggressive new recruit, and with the devastating news that her true love might be the target of an assassination plot. Will Carmen break with her community and save the girl who stole her heart—or fully embrace the ruthless rebel she was always meant to be?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was super nervous about this one. I kept thinking it wouldn’t be as good as the first, but honestly, I think it was better. I definitely shouldn’t have been nervous. And I definitely should have read this way before I did.
“Legends aren’t often true, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use them when they benefit us.“10%
Carmen left just when she was getting close to Dani. As she goes home, she realizes things aren’t the same at the place where she’s grown up. But that’s causing her to realize she must make the choice again…: The girl she loves or the resistance she loves?
“A fool trusts blindly. The wisest man is full of doubts.“14%
The very best thing about this book was the writing style. I was biting my nails the entire time. And there weere cliff-hangers at the end of every chapter. I was scared for all of these characters. And if you’re wondering, this one was more stressful. It was my favorite of the two books.
“The gods were only stories told by people in power to make oppression seem glorious, fated.“22%
Since this one was from Carmen’s POV, I knew I was going to be good. Carmen was my favorite character from the first book. And in this one she just got more bad ass. I didn’t realize how ruthless she was, but she doesn’t hold back anything in this book. And I loved it. And there was one of the worst villains I have read in a long time. I hate saying this, but man, I did NOT want them to make it to the end of this book. I hoped they took care of that person from the very beginning.
“That was the power of fear whe manipulated by the right hands. It made me rallying cries of lies. It made murders. It made wars.“45%
The plot is the thing that made me not originally give this 5 stars. I felt a lot of the things that happened were mainly to further the plot. Like I don’t care how good you are, but that many hits at the end just doesn’t seem plausible. She should’ve missed at least one. But since it was a fantasy book, I just let it go. It didn’t bother too much which is why I only took off half a star.
“He thought their lives worthless because of who they were, who they loved, and where they had been born. And he was wrong.“48%
The ending was great. It cleaned up everything and made for a good conclusion to this series. I don’t see that there will be a need for another book, but I won’t be mad if there was. And there’s 2 different POVs it could be from. I’d be super interested in seeing if Mejia would go down that route. It would definitely make for another great addition to the series.
“Human voices all sounded the same when the pain reaches a certain level.“86%
This stressed me out the entire time I was reading, but I was so grateful for it lol It sounds weird, but that’s the marking of a good story for me. I had to take breaks because the action was nonstop, but when I was reading I couldn’t put it down. If you’ve read the first one, do yourself a favor and read this one as well.
Overall, I give this
