I’ve agreed to work for a Demigod. My job? Find the spirit of his mother and release her before his vengeful father finds out and kills us all.

Have I lost my mind?

Thankfully, I don’t have to do it alone. Kieran has brought in help: a Necromancer who loves to flirt with danger. Bria can help me find the clues to free Kieran’s mom.

She can also help me learn my potent and extremely terrifying magic.

But as we work deeper into magical San Francisco, we uncover a minefield waiting to explode. I’m learning that there are far worse things than death.

Sometimes I take a break before I read the next in a series, but I don’t think I even paused between finishing book 1 and starting this (book 2).

In this book Alexis has just started working for Kieran to find clues to free his mother’s spirit. Mordecai is healing and Daisy learns to fight. There is also more involvement from Kieran’s Six and we meet Bria for the first time.

Again we are treated to chapters from both Alexis and Kieran’s point of views, which gives the reader dual descriptions of some of the characters. It’s easier to learn about a character when it’s their point of view and with such confusing emotions between the two main characters, point of view chapters are essential to understanding them.

Bria was everything I needed from a supporting female character. She brought humour to the serious moments and acted as a good buffer to flesh out the areas of Alexis’s character that she didn’t even understand herself.

It was interesting to see Alexis develop as a character because of the realisation that she has this power that is so rare. She was/is walking an uncharted path but it is still warming to see the other characters rally around her and help her out as she walks her path.

There are a lot of layers between Alexis and Kieran – both together and individually – and there is definitely a big scope of inputs that can manifest through them during this series and so it will be interesting to see how they’re shaped further down the line. I did get shades of the ‘Throne of Glass’ series by Sarah J. Maas. It’s not a bad thing because I loved that series but I am curious how this series will become its own and grow into its boots.

I love the characters of Mordecai and Daisy because they are so opposite but both compliment Alexis and stand up in their own rights. This series is the first time I am reading K. F. Breene but I am pleased with the way she write characters. There is clearly a lot of thought that goes into creating these characters and the ability to create a secondary character with a fully realised backstory and enough gumption to stand up as their own individual, is something I think can be difficult to achieve.

For me, the best characters – in book series – are when all the characters feel like the main character. I can’t stand it when characters are introduced and hold no sustenance, or when they go on to become bigger characters and the reader knows nothing about them.

This book definitely lived up to the ‘second book’ expectation. It’s made me more excited for the rest of the series. I’ve always had a marmite style relationship with fantasy books, when I find one that I enjoy so much, I get kind of giddy with obsessive reading energy.

The end of this book marked a turn in the series in that, all the characters are on the same page moving forward. Knowing what Kieran wants to accomplish, it will be an interesting ride to see how Alexis fits into the picture, how her magic develops, and at what point Valens becomes suspicious and acts out against what Kieran is trying to do.

This book was fab and the series has a lot of potential.

I give this book: ✨✨✨✨✨