King Cave (Forever Evermore #2)
by Scarlett Dawn
Summary: The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling, award-winning King Hall: the revolution is here, but the most dangerous attack may come from within...
The safe, comfortable world of Lily Ruckler and her fellow Mystical Kings and Queens is rocked to the core by the attacks at King Hall. Not only does Lily have to kill the Commoners attacking her people, she also has to assume the mantle of leadership, and bring the surviving Mysticals to King Cave.
It should have been too much, but she is not alone. Ezra becomes her rock, her best friend, the one person who understands. As Pearl and Jack struggle with inconsolable loss, Ezra and Lily work to keep the Mys community safe in their new home, and plan a deadly retaliation.
Their friendship saves them both...but it also draws attention. Whispers. Judgment. It's not normal for Shifters and Vampires to be friends, and when a horrifying truth is revealed, their relationship morphs from unusual to unspeakable. Lily is good at keeping secrets that could get her killed. Is she willing to risk Ezra's life as well?
Add to Goodreads
Source: I purchased a copy
Review:
My feelings about the book changed throughout the series, but I suppose it is best to go through my feelings in order. I really loved King Hall and the characters, so I was anxious to pick up the sequel. It started out pretty amazing.. The THING I had wanted to happen all through book one finally did. I was ecstatic.
Suddenly, the series began to be a lot more graphic than it had been previously. However, unlike many novels in the NA category, every graphic scene moved the plot forward in some way. Whether the people involved were figuring out something about themselves and their relationship or they were caught by someone, each one had a purpose and didn’t end up being too long or ridiculous.
I did feel like most of King Cave focused on Lily and her relationship and ended up being less about the other prodigies and the war. It was all happening in the background, but the majority of the focus was Lily. There was a lot of time for things I didn’t believe there would be time for. However, Lily was central to the plot, especially due to her nature and love interests, so it didn’t bother me as much as it could have. I did enjoy seeing everything unfold. King Cave felt really long to me. Without spoiling the plot too much, I felt like it covered so much of a relationship cycle far too quickly and too much for one book. I was happy to the see the relationship evolve, but it was just fast. I’m not sure if I felt like it was too fast or not. I’m still undecided, despite enjoying it.
I did really enjoy the novel up until the end.
It took a turn that, while it made sense as far as Laws were concerned, doesn’t typically work for me in fiction. Memory loss. People are shaped by every experience and losing memories of major experiences, even if you remember some sort of residual stuff, would completely change you and impact every decision. Not much was explored as far as the memory loss was concerned, so I’ll have to wait to see how book three handles it. But it’s an aggravating trope for me.
It’s okay to START a book with a character who has messed up memories, but not after I’ve gotten to know the character. Wiping any section of their brain would be so many steps backwards. We would like to think people would be mostly the same, but we are so completely shaped by each experience. We make major decisions based on personal experience, we create entire world views based on bits of our experience and those of people we care about. I just.. I don’t think many authors can successfully handle a memory wipe without screwing it up and giving us the same character back when it is all said and done.
I expect to be disappointed, but I will definitely read the next book because I enjoy the series and I’m far too curious.
Labels: New Adult, Review
