Upon discovering the unawakened are a primary source of sustenance for dae without a bonded human, Alexa must come to terms with her status as Rob’s lover and provider. To complicate matters, Kenneth and his dae are convinced she belongs only to them. Unless she can rise up from her station and become a player in the games the dae play, she will remain a pawn and a victim. In a dangerous gambit … dangerous gambit that will forever change her life, she joins the police to gain the intel needed to bring down Kenneth and his empire.
But all things come at a price, and she never imagined securing justice for the women Terry Moore, Kenneth’s accomplice, drugged and murdered might cost her the one thing she doesn’t want to lose: Rob.
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The author continues with her depiction of a world gone wild, where magic has swept in and changed … everything. Alexa is one of a very few Unawakened, those rare humans who do not have a dae or have not turned into a magical creature. That in itself would paint a target on her but to also be the bone of contention between two very different and powerful men? Life is both comfortable and uncomfortable for a girl who only wants to get ahead by her own efforts. Time for Alexa to step up and take control of the situation – that means it is time for explosions! I am in awe of the author’s imagination – this is one of the weirdest apocalypses I have read (and that includes the Bureau 13’s various ends-of-the-world-as-we-know-it). Please tell me there will be a book 3!
I originally would’ve given this four stars but after rereading it a second time I’m upping that to all five. My original concerns about the worldbuilding didn’t take into account that she opted for a more subtle style here of just dropping clues and letting the readers figure it out themselves.
This book continues the tale of Alexa from the first book. Both books are complete in themselves and this book could have been read without the first, although there would be a few holes from the missing backstory. I consider that sort of construction to be better than the more common continuing serial that many UF writers seem to think is mandatory (this series actually isn’t UF, it’s “modern fantasy” (or futuristic possibly) since the magic is not hidden from normals. But similar rules apply).
Comparing this book to the first makes sense to me, since most prospective readers will have read the first already. In some ways it’s better. But in others it’s just too different to compare. The first book didn’t have a clear overarching plot. It brought together several subplots as Alexa tried to learn to deal with a world in chaos. This book focuses on just one main plot – which is Alexa’s desire for revenge against Kenneth Smith (who had previously controlled her life almost to the point of slavery), and his attempts to force her back under his control. In the first book she won free (mostly) of Smith’s hold, but she had vowed revenge and that hadn’t happened. This book closes that plotline. The first book also had plots about the college Dean and the sadistic kidnapper Arthur Hasling (or whatever his name was, I’m a bit fuzzy on that right now). This book mentions those in passing but doesn’t advance those stories at all. So in one sense it’s better written because it’s more in line with classical book writing but in another sense it’s a bit less interesring because there’s not as much going on. There are some side plots but they mostly don’t amount to much.
This book has less obvious worldbuilding than the first. There is some more explanation about the origins and differences of some of the types of Dae. A small bit of extra history revealed, though nothing significant. And one interesting side trip to an underground (literally & figuratively) repository that – even though the characters don’t figure it out – is obviously intended for use by a large group of independent individuals with knowledge outside the bounds of government-allowed society. So there’s just a hint that there could be some organization to be added as a player in the future, but nothing concrete. So mostly worldbuilding in the form of subtle additions that require a bit of thought from the reader to reason out.
There’s one annoying point that keeps bothering me. When Rob (the love interest) gets kidnapped Alexa (who has now taken a job with the police as a database administrator) fights fiercely to be added as an investigator on the police team looking for him. And tbey approve her – eventually. But then she never meets with any other investigator, never looks at a case file, never files a report, and takes pains to hide her own investigations from police eyes. It’s like that whole endeavor never really happened. So that’s a plot sinkhole that deadends after taking up too much spce for, basically, a non-issue. Fortunately that’s all near the end of the book and doesn’t detract from most of the rest of the plot.
The story is well written and flows easily from one scene to the next. High marks for the writing style and for the plot other than that one exception. Overall I very much enjoyed the book. One of the best books I’ve read in months.
Colby, the mac’N’Cheese dae, also develops well in this story. In the first book he(it) was basically just a cute sidekick with a one word vocabulary. That’s well enough but gets old eventually. In this book he comes more into his own, learns a couple new words (not many), proves himself to be useful and resourceful and even ends up saving the dae after a fashion (pun intended). All while still being cute-but-a-little-bit-gross. And we meet some more Dae. Mostly returns from the first book but a couple new ones. So that’s something.
Anyway, all in alll – I recommend this book to just about any fantasy fan. A few flaws but small ones only. Tiny, even. Itty bitty – don’t even count. In fact, forget I said that. No flaws at all. Perfect, beautiful, amazing fiction. Just read it already. I’m tired of typing now.