Book Review: Endless Knight

Synopsis:

In this seductive follow-up to Poison Princess, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole takes us deeper into the dark world of the Arcana Chronicles.Shocking secrets Evie has fully come into her powers as the Tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. She now knows that the teens who’ve been reincarnated as the Tarot are in the throes of an epic battle. It’s kill or be killed, and the future of mankind hangs in the balance. Unexpected allies With threats lurking around every corner, Evie is forced to trust her newfound alliance. Together they must fight not only other Arcana, but also Bagmen zombies, post-apocalyptic storms, and cannibals. Gut-wrenching treachery When Evie meets Death, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she’s drawn to the dangerous Endless Knight as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a history, one that Evie can’t remember—but Death can’t forget…

Endless Knight is filling the category “Outstanding Hero/Heroine” in my Full House Challenge.

It’s been a while since I read Poison Princess, but what I remember of it, it was a very different book than Endless Knight. Kresley Cole’s second installment of her “Young Adult” series (we’ll talk about that in a moment) is dark, intense, seductive, fast-paced, exciting, and terrifying. In other words, I loved it.

Evie rounds up a ragtag team of interesting characters to make an alliance against Death; Death doesn’t seem to worried by their plans. Evie and her friend encounter horrors far worse than The Alchemist from Poison Princess on their journey, most notably The Teeth, a group of nightmarish cannibals. And then, suddenly, Evie finds herself in Death’s clutches, both figuratively and literally. As she learns more about her sworn enemy, her view of herself, and the game, changes.

I don’t know why this is considered Young Adult. I guess it’s probably because Evie is sixteen. But this book is DARK. The cannibals are just about the most horrifying thing I’ve ever read. And there are plenty of other horrors along the way. Not to mention that there is sex  in this book, not described in as much detail as an adult romance novel, but much more graphic than most YA books.

I like Jackson, Evie’s sexy Cajun love interest from even before the Flash that ruined the earth. I do. (Anyone else think he might be the dormant arcana?) But I’m not going to lie, after reading Endless Knight, I like Death better. I think his and Evie’s story is more interesting than Evie and Jackson’s. I think their relationship is more compelling. Sure, he’s probably pretty crazy, living the way he has, but I feel that Evie might be exactly what he needs. I hope we see much more of their development in the future.

Kresley Cole really knows how to create intense situations and make the stakes about as high as they can go. I didn’t know how Evie was going to get out of many situations, even though she’s a ninja goddess chick who has crazy superpowers (seriously, this girl knows how to take care of herself). And I sense that in Dead of Winter, things are only going to get worse.

We definitely get to know some of the other Arcana better, and we get to see the depth of Evie’s resolve to end the game (and make alliances). She’s no pushover though, and has to fight her way out of many situations (even going to far as to cut off limbs to do so). There’s no lack of action or romance in Endless Knight, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.