I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Poison Dark and Drowning by Jessica Cluess Series: Kingdom on Fire #2
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers on September 19, 2017
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
Source: the publisher
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The magicians want her to lead. The sorcerers want her to lie. The demons want her blood. Henrietta wants to save the one she loves. But will his dark magic be her undoing?
Henrietta doesn’t need a prophecy to know that she’s in danger. She came to London to be named the chosen one, the first female sorcerer in centuries, the one who would defeat the bloodthirsty Ancients. Instead, she discovered a city ruled by secrets. And the biggest secret of all: Henrietta is not the chosen one.
Still, she must play the role in order to keep herself and Rook, her best friend and childhood love, safe. But can she truly save him? The poison in Rook’s system is transforming him into something monstrous as he begins to master dark powers of his own.
So when Henrietta finds a clue to the Ancients’ past that could turn the tide of the war, she persuades Blackwood, the mysterious Earl of Sorrow-Fell, to travel up the coast to seek out strange new weapons. And Magnus, the brave, reckless flirt who wants to win back her favor, is assigned to their mission. Together, they will face monsters, meet powerful new allies, and uncover the most devastating weapon of all: the truth.
I need to apologize to this book. The beginning started out intriguing, but a little slow, so I accused it of having Second Book Syndrome. But I was SOOO wrong. The last 100 pages were SUPER EPIC INTENSE and had me GASPING AND FLAILING AND CRYING AND SCREAMING. I’m emotionally exhausted from this book, and I’m diving RIGHT into book three because I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!!!!!!
For the most part, the characters remained steady in their development. I think they grew a LOT near the end, but they otherwise were on point with where they were in book one. I still adore Henrietta, though I didn’t always agree with her choices in this book. She’s still bold and fierce and I LOVE that she’s … not what she thought she was… I don’t know how else to say that without spoilers, so.. If you read the book, you know what I mean. She defies a certain trope.
I STILL love Magnus and STILL want him and I Henrietta to be End Game. But, just as I said in my review of book one, he did have some moments where I hated him and the way he behaved and the way he treated Henrietta. I’m anxious, re: the way his story ended. And I’m nervous to see where it’ll go from here. I’m still a bit confused on how I feel about Blackwood. He was kind of an ass in this book, so I don’t like him as much as I did in the first book. But I’m still intrigued by him… is that weird??
I LOVED Maria. Right off the bat, I liked her but didn’t trust her. And then I had a super wild-ass theory about her and then I WAS RIGHT AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THIS MEANS FOR HER IN BOOK THREE I’M SO INTRIGUED I NEED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!!!!
I still don’t really like or care about Rook, and I don’t ship him and Henrietta. And I know it wasn’t his fault (not completely), but he did some pretty unforgivable stuff in this book… I’m a little bit curious to see what happens with him in book three, but I also can’t see him possibly getting any redemption, particularly after that one incident…
The revelations in this book – especially, as I mentioned, in the last 100 pages – were INSANE and INTENSE and CRAZY, but also super intriguing – and many of them made complete sense. I had another wild-ass theory regarding one of the Ancients and in that I was right as well and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVED Faerie. It was dark, twisted and creepy and I LOVE dark Faerie realms. It gave me Wintersong vibes, to a certain extent. Also, Holly Black/Tithe vibes.
Overall, this book was a bit slow in the beginning, but the ending absolutely made up for it. I HIGHLY recommend IT!!!