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Well, I have to admit, at first, I wasn’t as taken with this one as I was with Wither. In my review of Wither, I pointed out my issues with Rhine’s mindset – I mean, if you’re only going to live until you’re twenty, I see no problem personally with living in comfort. I see the value of choice, and yes, Housemater Vaughn is pretty messed up so far as villains go, but there seemed to be more advantages on the inside of the mansion than there would have been on the outside.
Once again, that was an issue in this book, and actually the first half of the book really does play on that. Rhine feels guilty for dragging Gabriel from the mansion, only to find themselves more or less fighting to keep themselves alive. Especially when they find themselves captive, as a sideshow, no less, in a creepy carnival.
The carnival itself shows another aspect of the world DeStefano has created, and shows the reader prostitution, though it’s almost portrayed as being the ‘nice’ side, if there is such a thing. How? Because whilst the Madame of the carnival seems to live in her own little world, she does at least seem to look after the girls living within it.
Following this, the twosome make an escape, and head back to Manhattan to Rowan, Rhine’s twin brother. Of course, this never runs smoothly, especially given that Vaughn clearly was not impressed with Rhine’s escape, and will do anything to get her back.
Whilst I’ve mentioned the fact that Rhine’s world-view seemed odd to me in the first book, at least it was explained in this one. The girl wants choice – and it’s actually understandable. And whilst living your meager twenty years out in comfort might be nice, at least the way Rhine has chosen to live, she gets to have her thrills and whatever as she chooses.
Really, I think the characters in this were much better portrayed, especially Rhine. She actually misses Linden and the lifestyle at times, and whilst I can see that this sense of the grass always being greener might annoy some people, it worked for me. Sometimes you really don’t know what you have until you’ve given it up, after all.
The only character I felt I wanted more from in this one was Gabriel. Admittedly, for a portion of the novel he’s more or less out of commission, but I wanted him to be more like he was in Wither.
However, overall, this was a fairly good follow-on to Wither, and I liked the fact that you see more of the world, and even the governmental system within it.
I’m definitely looking forward to the next one!
Once again, that was an issue in this book, and actually the first half of the book really does play on that. Rhine feels guilty for dragging Gabriel from the mansion, only to find themselves more or less fighting to keep themselves alive. Especially when they find themselves captive, as a sideshow, no less, in a creepy carnival.
The carnival itself shows another aspect of the world DeStefano has created, and shows the reader prostitution, though it’s almost portrayed as being the ‘nice’ side, if there is such a thing. How? Because whilst the Madame of the carnival seems to live in her own little world, she does at least seem to look after the girls living within it.
Following this, the twosome make an escape, and head back to Manhattan to Rowan, Rhine’s twin brother. Of course, this never runs smoothly, especially given that Vaughn clearly was not impressed with Rhine’s escape, and will do anything to get her back.
Whilst I’ve mentioned the fact that Rhine’s world-view seemed odd to me in the first book, at least it was explained in this one. The girl wants choice – and it’s actually understandable. And whilst living your meager twenty years out in comfort might be nice, at least the way Rhine has chosen to live, she gets to have her thrills and whatever as she chooses.
Really, I think the characters in this were much better portrayed, especially Rhine. She actually misses Linden and the lifestyle at times, and whilst I can see that this sense of the grass always being greener might annoy some people, it worked for me. Sometimes you really don’t know what you have until you’ve given it up, after all.
The only character I felt I wanted more from in this one was Gabriel. Admittedly, for a portion of the novel he’s more or less out of commission, but I wanted him to be more like he was in Wither.
However, overall, this was a fairly good follow-on to Wither, and I liked the fact that you see more of the world, and even the governmental system within it.
I’m definitely looking forward to the next one!