A review by booksarethenewblack
Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff

5.0

 

Sometimes I take way too long to read a book. I’m glad it worked out this way for this series. I finished book one last week and jumped right into book two. This was such a great “middle” book, and I can’t imagine what book three will be like!!

There’s a bit of difference in this book because we get many more POV’s than just Gabriel’s. Most of book one, is told by him through an interview. We still have the interviews, but we get another POV that tells the story of Dior’s journey. I don’t want to point out who it was because it’s a mild spoiler, and I’m spoiler-free. I loved the different POV’s of the timeline. We get a more complete story, and learn a lot about some characters we didn’t know very well. Another surprise is that we get so much more of Jean-Francois in this book. He is just the interviewer in book one, but we learn much more about him in book two. All of these different POVs helped create a lot more character development.

Speaking of character development, Dior makes strides in this book. Throughout book one, we are just learning who she is, and she relies so heavily on everyone else. Dior has to rely on her street smarts, and this girl has courage for days. It’s amazing how these characters around her have sworn to protect her but somehow ends up meaning so much more to them. It was so beautiful to see and sometimes heartbreaking. Her relationship with Gabriel is one that you can never quite figure out. It was good to see Gabriel and Dior explore what they meant to each other. Dior isn’t the only character that had character development. All of them do across the board. It’s what keeps you so hooked into the story. No matter where you are or who you are with. You are attached to them all. You never once feel bored during someone else’s storyline, and that’s a great thing to accomplish with the second book.

Throughout this book there’s a lot of action, scheming, heartbreak, and emotional moments, and it can get very dark. There are times when the banter between Gabriel and Jean-Francois is much needed and welcome! We get some world-building, and plot points introduced in book one expanded upon. There is a lot of intensity, keeping you flipping the pages to find relief. I don’t know what relief I found (if any), but it had me turning pages. I never had any issues with pacing.

I need to point out we have many illustrations in this book, and I was so relieved. They are fabulous and add so much to the story, just like in the first book. I don’t know how, I’m going to read fantasy books in the future without these stunning illustrations. I love how it brings the characters to life and makes it a much more immersive experience.

Overall, I enjoyed this one! I loved getting to know these characters and their relationships better. I was relieved that it didn’t suffer from middle book syndrome. Kristoff’s writing is fantastic and addicting. It’s going to be a very long wait for book three!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a finished copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.