Rashika, The Book Owl

(I've actually had this review written up for a while and kept on forgetting to post it.. oops)

This sequel fell short of the first book. I wouldn’t say it suffered from the second book syndrome but it just didn’t hit the same mark as the first book. It was entertaining but it could have been more. 

I think one of my biggest problems with this book was Christina. It’s almost as if the last book never happened. They are back to square one where she refuses to trust Michael. I know that getting over what happened is hard, I’d be pissed if she got over it so quickly, but there needs to be some room to maneuver. She doesn’t leave much room. It’s hard with this book because sometimes she’d say something that makes you hope that some character development has occurred but then she’d be back to questioning Michael. She realizes that you don’t always have a choice but then she goes ahead and decides to question Michael. He does know what he’s doing. He is an assassin who worked for the agency that is hunting them down. He knows his shit. Maybe she should listen to him for once. The problem here is that there hasn’t been much character development on Christina’s end. She is almost exactly like what she was in the previous book and it bothers me. 

My biggest issue with Michael was actually minor. I didn’t like his his reason for falling in love with Christina. A little too cliched for my liking. And perhaps I expected slightly more from him since he is rather badass. Aside from that, I really admire his patience with Christina, I would NOT have been able to keep my cool around her.

One of my other issues with this book were the bad parents. They stuck out a lot more to me this time around. Perhaps because in the first book I still held on to the hope that there would be some sort of redemption for them. Bad parents always bother me in books. Perhaps because it is such an overused cliche. Yes not all parents are perfect but for the most part they won’t go out of their way to ruin their child’s life. Even when they are controlling. 

The plot was well paced and I had loads of fun watching Michael mess around with everyone. Of course, I also liked how he could be outsmarted. The plot and Michael were ultimately the saving grace of this book because if nothing else, you can always count on Nenia to present you with a highly entertaining story which will keep you on the edge. 

Even with all my issues with this book, I cannot wait to read the (no longer the last!! :D) 3rd book in the series. I am counting on it for being the best out of the 3. With Christina finally opening up and the two of them combining brain power to kick some IMA ass.