Towers of Books Come Tumbling Down!
I love all kinds of books! For all my friends, I am known on GR as Alicja. I don't stick with a genre, that's boring. Instead you'll get reviews from the most random assortment of fiction and non-fiction works. It's probably due to my interests being as eclectic as my book tastes.
I'm a girlfriend-loving bisexual, science fiction geek, PC gamer, historical fiction devourer, hiker, atheist, history buff, opera lover, vegetarian, kayaker, metal and hard rock concert goer, science nerd, politics debater, world traveler, M/M romance fan, and I have the ability to transform from an adult-like hard-working professional into a screaming fangirl in five seconds flat.
Afterimage (In the Company of Shadows #2)
Rating: 4/5
Summary: Now that Sin and Boyd are together working for the Agency and Connors is dead, everything will be perfect, right?
Review: I am broken, destroyed, emotionally drained...
There is just so much improvement over the first one; the plot, the writing, the characters, the flow... It is just so much better and so much more addicting. Yes, there are still parts that are in need of editing but few and far in between.
Even Boyd is less annoying and less melodramatic. Ok, fine, he can still be irritating and dramatic, but at least he is starting to recognize it now. He is also seeking to do something about it. Still, there were times that I just wanted to smack him around for his stupidity, even if he is just 20 and is expected to make mistakes like these. This is also his first adult relationship and it is with Sin so I'm not surprised it's a train wreck. But the way that the relationship is handled is very realistic, love that.
And Sin. How I adore Sin. He has a sh*t load of trauma, family issues, psychological issues, and Boyd to sort through. We really get to see inside his mind and the authors did a great job developing his character. By the end of this story I barely even recognized him and am excited to see how he develops in the subsequent novels. Sin's POV was my favorite part to read and I just wished we had spent less time in Boyd's neurotic head and more in Sin's psychotic one.
Uh, Kassian, yes, Captain America Kassian. We get to see the civilian side of Senior Agent Trovosky; the vulnerable, funny, arrogant, alcoholic who develops an interesting friendship with Boyd. I did not see that one coming...
I even like the tragic Ann and captive Thierry. They both added depth to the story and plot but at the same time I felt for their struggles and understood their decisions, even as I hated them at the time.
And in the end... my heart shattered. It was beautiful and perfect and painful.