Review: Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Book Two of the Arcana Chronicles

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 1, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Source: Copy sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

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…

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.

What I Liked:

THIS BOOK. GUYS. THIS BOOK. It is soooo good! I have mixed feelings about it, actually, but as I finished, I was like, WOW. One huge thing bothered me, but this thing can be fixed in book three. PLEASE, Kresley Cole. Go this certain way. You'll see what I mean below. 

In this highly anticipated sequel (Poison Princess was one of my favorite books of 2012!), Evie must strengthen and create more alliances, in order to take down the one card that everyone fears: Death, the Endless Knight. As she, Matthew, Selena, Jack, and Finn flee from other Arcana, Bagmen, and Death himself, they find themselves relying on other Arcana, attempting to trust other Arcana, and betrayed by other Arcana. Secrets are uncovered, and sacrifices must be made. In the end, the result is the same: Evie must face Death.

This book was filled with nonstop action, nonstop battles, twists, blood, death. I wanted to keep reading, wanted more from the story, wanted the next book by the time I was finished. This is rare in sequels, I find. Sequels often have weird and sometimes lagging pacing, because they often act as filler books.

Not so with this book. HUGE, critical events happen in this book, including Evie surrendering to Death in order to save her friends (not a spoiler, I promise). Evie creates alliances with other Arcana; some are successful, some are double-crossed. But Evie is captured by Death, and she must find a way to defeat him.

As always, Cole creates a wonderful cast of characters that readers can connect with and root for. I really like Finn, of all of Evie's band. I think he always gets the short end of the stick, but he has such an infectious personality. What a funny, lovable guy!

Okay. I'll be honest. I was enthralled by this book, but even more so when Death and Evie started interacting face-to-face. Death is so FASCINATING. I knew from book one that there would be more to him than Kill Evie kill everyone win the game. Death is so much more, so complex, so lonely, so sad. I felt bad for him in book one, but I REALLY felt bad for him in this book. He can't touch anyone without killing them. Except Evie - she is Life, he is Death.

I loved the cruel banter between Death and Evie. Usually, it was Death shutting her down when she had requests or questions, or threatening to make her suffer even more, or terrible things like that. But as you keep reading, you see that Death has motives, and he and the Empress have a past. It was terrifying and incredibly sad to understand Death. I want to hug him!

And yes, a huge part of why I love this book is because of Death, his complexity, his past, and his overall hotness. Dang, the evil guy is HOT. He's not a good person/immortal/Arcana, don't get me wrong. As complex and almost human as he seems, he's still Death. But... I like him. I like his character, his being... and his hotness. *fans self*

That being said, yes, there is a love triangle in this book. And it's a "bad" one, fully-blown. Evie is (supposedly) in love with Jack, and he's in love with her (again, supposedly). But Evie falls in love with Death, and vice versa. Personally, I'm on Death's side, though I feel like Cole is going the other way with this one. I'm trying not to be too sad about that, and I'm mentally bracing myself. But at the same time, there is plenty of reason for Evie to end up with Death. They're ARCANA. Jack is not. Ugh ugh ugh. I like Jack a lot. But can he go with Selena or something? Or leave Evie alone?

This sequel was AWESOME. I'm so glad I read it, but so irritated that I waited so long to read it. Then again, the third book doesn't come out for months. If I had read this book when I got it (October 2013), I would have had to wait more than a year for book three. So I guess things work out. 

What I Did Not Like:

I described it already... the love triangle. GO DEATH! I like Jack and all, but I love Death, and not just because he's one fine piece of Arcana. Death's character and being and essence is so much MORE than Jack's. Jack acts like a child, seems insignificant, compared to Death.

So, this love triangle is the real deal, because Evie seems to be in love with both of them. This is what bothers me about love triangle - when the heroine herself loves both of them. LOVES both of them. I don't care if two or three or ten people are in love with the heroine. It irritates me when the heroine reciprocates these feelings to more than one person. It's so... not monogamist. And that's why fully-blown love triangles bother me so much. This is definitely one of them. 

And I think Cole is leaning towards Jack's way - which makes me a tiny bit mad. Why build up Death's case, why have THIS book all about Death, convincing me that Death should be with Evie, when Evie will end up with Jack anyway? Of course, this is just me speculating. I have no idea if Cole will have Evie and Jack end up together. Personally, I'm hoping that doesn't happen - I'm hoping that Evie and Death happen.

Would I Recommend It:

YESSSS! Well, if you've read book one, DEFINITELY read book two. This book is even better than book one, despite the emerging love triangle (yuck). If you haven't started this series yet, be sure to do so... but perhaps wait until January, when the third book comes out. This is an amazing series, and it will probably be one of my favorites (that is heavily dependent on how the romance turns out).

Rating:

4.5 stars -> rounded down to 4 stars. THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! I know my rating is lower than what I gave Poison Princess, but I actually enjoyed this one MORE than I enjoyed the first book. Minus one detail. If this love triangle works in "my" favor, then this book will truly get 5 stars from me. But as I don't know, it's getting 4.5 stars!

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