“Anyone, anything, can betray anyone. Even your own heart.”

It took me a while to read this book - after Red Queen, I was so excited for the release of the sequel that my expectations towards this book were sky high. But after it was released, I've heard some comments saying that it didn't live up to the hype, that it was disappointing and so on, so it kinda blew me off reading it. BUT, because the last book is coming out in May, I found the will to continue with the series. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting after all the stuff being said, but it wasn't as fantastic as I was first expecting it to be. It was that typical middle book in a series - it suffered some pace problems and some of the characters changed for the worst. The pacing is fast most of the time, with some 'slow' moments to give our characters some development, and the ending was explosive, if not unexpected.

I enjoyed the new characters, especially Cameron and Shade, and I loved knowing more about the inner workings of the Scarlet Guard and the powers of the Newbloods. There was also some world expanding here that I found interesting as well and it gave this world some depth - it also opened up some possibilities for the next books. We also get to know Farley and Cal more and I found I liked them better here than in Red Queen, especially Cal. I liked seeing them interacting with the other characters and forming some relationships of their own.

And Maven. I loved how, despite not being physically there, he was present during the entire book, as this shadow over our characters. In a way, he was always with Cal and Mare, kind of haunting them and was just as important here as he was in the previous book.

As for Mare, she was one of the low points of the book for me. I understand what she went through and how she had to change to survive, but I don't like what she is becoming in this book - she is selfish, she wants to persue her own agenda and thinks whatever she does is justifiable, even if it hurts or harm someone else (as long as it isn't someone she cares about, because then she will go even further to help them at the cost of everything else). She also keeps everyone away, no matter who it is, and then complains she is always alone. The way she treats her family is also a little bit cruel, at some point she even forgets about them. Idk, I had a hard time connecting with her in this installment. Some of the characters gives her a well deserved wake up call and STILL she only realizes this AFTER shit happens. It irritated me a lot. I'm hoping that, after the way this one ended, she will get a little bit better in the next novel.

The ending was devastating, but some things were totally expected and I could see coming somehow - still, others were amazing plot twists and had me on the edge of the seat a lot. Nothing like the major reveal at the end of Red Queen, but still. I'm curious and excited to continue with the series, even if this wasn't the book I was hoping it would be. Let's see if the next one will live up to my expectations.