Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.
Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever. (Goodreads)
Again, I read and finished this book in April – actually on my birthday – but I procrastinated on the actual review of it, especially since I hadn’t reviewed Rebel Belle until earlier on today! I liked this book even less than I did the first and I am debating whether I actually want to read the next book in the series (which I only found out about after posting my earlier review on Goodreads!). I felt like this book suffered second book syndrome and just left me feeling more annoyed with my unanswered questions than anything else.
More than anything, I think this book made less sense than the first in the series. The lack of world building, answers to questions etc, made it impossible to actually enjoy. It was jumpy and there was no connection between the characters and the events taking place. It was almost like the characters didn’t care about anything that was going on. The connections that the characters had with each other in the first instalment also seemed to get lost in the muddle.
The events within this book happened way too fast, without any proper explanation as to what was going on and why it was happening. When I reached the end of the book, I was left wondering what on earth I had just read – and at the time, there was no mention of another book. So, to say that the ending was a disappointed is a major understatement. As I mentioned earlier on, I am not entirely sure I want to carry on with this series considering just how confusing everything is!
I really wanted to enjoy these books more than I did, but I feel like the Hype Monster stuck its claws into this one. I gave this book 1/5 stars.
Lauren's Page Turners 
Aw, I’m sorry that this book was disappointing
I know what you mean about second book syndrome, and I see it most especially with trilogies. The first book is an awesome introduction, the last book is an epic conclusion, and the second book is just a random filler of stuff to make the series three books. Honestly, I think there are a lot of trilogies that could do fantastic as a longer standalone or a duology, we need more of those!
Thanks for the review, I’ve been hesitating about this series and you had very clear explanations. A lack of world building really sucks when the plot takes place in a radically different society (does the author expect us to just figure it out? Maybe other readers can, but I definitely need clear explanation xD)
Thanks for the reply! There are so many books which I think would be better as a standalone! I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way! I started this series because I had read great things about it and I had also read another series by the same author that I loved! If I see that the last book is better than the first two, I may read it. It just depends I guess. Thanks for stopping by!