Secret memories locked in my head, an assassin on my tail, and strange powers I shouldn’t possess are the least of my problems. Because now I’m bonded to a man I barely know.

My body may be pulled towards him, but my heart can’t forgive his betrayal.

And he isn’t the only one.

I’m sick of being treated this way and I’m sick of not knowing who I really am.

No more secrets. No more lies.

I’m determined to learn the truth.

No matter what the cost.

I sort of just fell headfirst into this second book. I wasn’t planning on it. I thought I’d ease myself back into reading, but the first book wouldn’t leave my brain hole alone, and I realised that if there was any hope in quieting my brain, I needed to read the next book of the series.

It was A LOT more intense than the first book. With the addition of another MMC. Some elements from the first book carried over into this second book, but I’m still convinced that Rhi is learning NOTHING at the academy. She is so far behind I’m not even sure she has the capacity to catch up. With all the time she spends outside of class, I can only say for certain that she has gained a capital T in Trouble.

The authorities still remain a rather vague omen, but I am hedging my bets that they’ll become more involved as the series progresses. It seems there are more factions on the board than I first realised, but given the vagueness with which they are currently discussed, my brain tends to want to skip or ignore mentions of them in favour of other elements of the plot. I hope that with so many factors in play, they will work cohesively within the plot and not make it feel disjointed or lacking.

I want to talk about the characters more than I did in my first review. I’m going to start with the men.

The Man in Black, we now know as Azlan. He is the Chancellor’s Enforcer. Still not a man to be trifled with. He is the first to seal his bond with Rhi, and it is done without her consent, but also done in a life-or-death situation. Rhi gives him a lot of flak for his decisions, and I understand both his point of view and hers. To the outside world, he is a cold and emotionless man, but he is fierce, dominating, and smouldering when he is with Rhi. He does struggle to communicate emotions. Actually, everyone involved struggles with that. With Azlan, Rhi goes from virgin to addict. But the sex is appropriate for the plot and the characters. We learn a bit about Azlan’s family and the prestige that he has rebelled against. Honestly, his family seem abhorrent, but I am interested as to whether it will come to light that they know more about Rhi than they are letting on and whether they have a bigger part to play as the story evolves. Azlan finds himself detouring from his usual behaviour. He finds it hard to stay away from Rhi, but he also struggles to talk to her and admit how he feels, what he’s been researching about her, and how their bond works. He is, to both Rhi and the reader, the most trustworthy of the men, and that in itself is saying something – they are all horrendously bad at trust.

Professor Stone, Phoenix. He was a shitbag in the first book and for most of this one. A professor with impure thoughts! A professor is bullying his student. A professor forcing his way into another’s mind. There is a long list of charges Stone needs to pay for, and Rhi has made it clear that his atonement will be long. We knew in book one that Stone was most likely linked to Rhi, but that he chose not to act on it; he chose to find a way to break it. Obviously, that did not work out for him. Fate does work in fickle ways in books and in real life, and denying fate’s hand has never really worked out for anyone! Whether or not he wanted to admit it in this book, Stone cares for Rhi; he has a red-hot rage when he finds her in trouble and a need to punish her as much as suffocate her when she is near. As an authority figure, he has tested the boundaries and then some, and it irritates me that he was in the prime position to explain things to Rhi, to help her navigate this unknown landscape, and instead, he chose to block her own and ridicule her at every turn. I understand the trope he is being written in, but I don’t have to like it. I think, as a more morally grey character, he has great potential to shift his stride and bring something beyond his snarky personality to the table.

Tristan Kennedy, we learned, is actually Azlan’s cousin, but if you think that would change the dynamic of things, it didn’t. Summer may be the designated cheerleader bully, but Tristan certainly gives her a run for her money. He trades insults like it’s a sports contest. He is exceptionally good at not listening to his own body and emotions and instead rearing himself as a bull charging towards a red flag, burying Rhi in emotional torture. She isn’t worth his time, yet he can’t stay away. She is a weakling, yet she’s hiding powerful magic. He wishes she were dead, yet can’t stop stalking her every mood. He needs to wake up and realise that the bubble of the academy is just that, a bubble, and being the ‘king’ of college doesn’t mean a thing in the real world.

Spencer is another big arsehole. More physical in his torture of Rhi, but still quick as a whip with his unpleasant comments. He’d rather stand aside and watch her suffer than run in and help her. There is a darkness within Spencer that was hinted at in the first book but explored more in this book. It made his character more three-dimensional. It actually made me pause and think about his character and what it means. He seems to be of the mind that Rhi is something special, but also of the mind that she is nothing, a waste of space. It is clearly confusing for his character and causing a lot of brainache. As the reader, I’m more impatient, wanting him to get to the point of realisation, but I am also enjoying the ride. Another morally grey character, but a well-written one. I don’t think people quite realise how difficult it is to write a good morally grey character. There is a lot about Spencer (and Tristan, and Stone) that I find disgusting, that makes my face scrunch up in annoyance, but I can see in the way he is written that there is room for growth, and despite the internal battle raging in his head, I’ll repeat myself again, fate is hardly ever wrong.

Lastly, we are introduced to the last man, Renzo. This man is batshit crazy. Not even dropped on a head as a baby, crazy, but born from the darkest pit of hell, crazy. This isn’t a man who is going to give you flowers or write a poem to win your heart; this is a man who would think giving you the heart of your enemy is the best gift to give. The kind of man who stalks you from the shadows, watches you sleep, and knows your entire routine. The kind of man most commonly featured in true crime documentaries. There is a psychotic air to his person and a manic gleam in his eye. Renzo was sent to kill Rhi and has instead become her nighttime stalker. Despite both of them feeling a pull to each other, this encounter is entirely one-sided. Rhi doesn’t want anything to do with him. From a plot standpoint, I am curious about this character’s trajectory and what he will bring to the table. I don’t know whether his presence will help or hinder Rhi or what, even, the tug they both feel says about the two of them.

Now, onto Rhi. She must have multiple magnets attached to her, given all the trouble she comes into contact with! She is a very relatable character because she feels emotions in the present and is reactive to the actions of those around her. She acts and behaves in the present. I think there can be a tendency to lean into the ‘lost bullied girl who knows nothing’ or the ‘hidden power girl goes to school’, and it can make the character feel very disjointed and over the top, depending on which way they lean. A lot of the eye rolling and deadpan remarks she makes in the face of her bullies is something I can certainly relate to, I’m sure a lot of people can. I would definitely resort to more violent and cry a lot more!! As a character, Rhi just ‘is’ and I’m finding that is the only way I can explain her. She isn’t over the top, she isn’t too negative towards herself, she isn’t too pretty or too powerful. I suppose I’m making her sound like she isn’t much at all, but it is rather refreshing to have an MFC who is just relatable for being herself. It’s definitely something that gives me a deeper reading. She is still loud and fierce, and she has all the emotions humans experience. I think it is just that there is such a natural flow to her; she expresses herself, how she moves and feels. This book opened a lot of unexplored avenues to Rhi’s character, and while I might never be able to explain what I mean in the above sentence, I do look forward to seeing her character grow and develop as the series continues.

Finally, we can talk about Winnie, the bestest friend if ever there was, and finally warming up to Pip! She takes everything that Rhi throws at her and everything she doesn’t. She is a good force for Rhi, not overstepping boundaries or becoming ‘too much’ but just the right level of friendship that is needed to give Rhi’s character a slice of normalcy away from the men. We could all do with a Winnie in our lives. I enjoyed that her character was expanded a bit in this book because she had the potential to remain rather 2D and lacklustre, but giving her more depth here solidifies her place in the narrative. I wonder, given all that she experienced here, what she will think and how she will act when Rhi lets her in on ALL her secrets!

The world-building in this book was almost a secondary, slightly ignored factor for me. I knew it was taking place at the academy, but it wasn’t where my focus was. I was more concerned with the plot, narrative, and characters than with the world surrounding them. I’m not sure from the hints of the authority and now the ‘Western’ that there will be a time when the world-building will become essential for me to absorb. I enjoyed the world-building in the first book, but I appreciated that this one was more character-driven.

I’ve had a rising migraine today, and honestly, it’s been one of those ones where the weather has actually kept me more positive, and my brain has needed stimulating rather than a dark place to brood. So, reading this has kept me at a happy medium. I am invested in continuing to read this series, so I’ll see where the reading gods take me!