Synopsis:
The competition has come to a disastrous end, and Daron Demarco’s fall from grace is now front page news. But little matters to him beyond Kallia, the contestant he fell for who is now lost to this world and in the hands of a dangerous magician. Daron is willing to do whatever it takes to find her. Even if it means embarking on a dark and treacherous journey, risking more than just his life, with no promise of return.
After awaking in darkness, Kallia has never felt more lost. Especially with Jack by her side, the magician with who has the answers but cannot be trusted. Together, they must navigate a dazzling world where mirrors show memories and illusions shadow every corner, one ruled by a powerful game master who could all too easily destroy the world she left behind — and the boy she can’t seem to forget. With time running out, Kallia must embrace her role in a darker destiny, or lose everyone she loves, forever.
My Review:
I was so disappointed in this book. I loved the first book — gave it 5 stars and actually reread it in preparation for this one and still loved it — and was really looking forward to this one, but it fell flat.
The editing was atrocious, and the writing not much better. I realize it was an arc, but it should have had *some* editing at that point. There was no reason for it to be littered with sentence fragments, missing words, jumbled phrases, and sentences that jammed together clauses that started with ‘while’ and followed with ‘though.’
It didn’t help that it was a mess of illusions and memories and not knowing what was going on. None of the characters knew, which of course left me with no idea at all. It was a confusing mess to wade through and by a quarter of the way through I was done. It didn’t help that I was just bored — there was nothing to keep me interested. The characters were unlikeable and the plot was… rather like staring down at a shattered mirror where every shard showed a piece of a different image.
edit: I went back to this to see if it would become more interesting and it did…. sort of. I read a bit and then began skimming and gave up again at 7o% . I still don’t care enough to read to the end. Things are too jumbled and confusing for it to come to a satisfactory ending.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an e-arc for review.
Whimsical Dragonette 