Rose will not rest until the Gardener is dead. But there are bigger battles to fight, and Rayce—leader of the rebellion and the only man Rose has ever loved—believes their best chance at winning the war is to join forces with her sworn enemy.
Saving innocent people is more important than her quest for revenge. But their new ally can’t be trusted—and he knows her darkest secret. One betrayal could leave the war and Rayce’s life hanging in the balance, and Rose will need to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them all.– Goodreads
I absolutely loved the first book. Something about Rose made me like her despite her lack of personality. In book two, things were different.
The author adds more to Rose. Although the fighting is still a huge part of her, revenge is what keeps her going. She isn’t short of drive but she is short of confidence, smarts and a voice. What I mean by voice is , Rose whines a lot. And purposely goes behind Rayce’s back, just to act surprise that he is hurt and upset at her when he finds out. She feels that she can have her cake and eat too and when it doesn’t work in her favor she’s a lost puppy. Unfortunately, Rose got annoying face.
But here is what I enjoyed about this book. There isn’t fluff when you start. You jump right back into the thick of things as if we didn’t wait months for book two. The beginning was strong and it held a lot of promise. This is not to say that the book was not enjoyable because it was. I loved that the author choose to focus on a battle within more than the outside battle. It made Rose and Rayce stronger. Their back and forth made a lot of sense throughout the book; It had to be one of the most realistic relationships in this type of setting I have seen a while. Rose expected something from Rayce that she didn’t earn and I respected the fact that he was very honest not only with his feelings for her but his duty as leader of the rebellion.
However, I wanted more fightings and sneaking. I wanted Rose to be way more bad ass than she was along with those that pledge their loyalty to her. I wanted a bit more romance other than Rose talking in her head because Rayce was made at her most of the time. Also it would have been fantastic if there was more secrets. I wanted a thrill from the book and didn’t quite get.
Overall,
Not better than book one but not a bad second book.
3 Pickles
Motif by Tanya 