Hidden Secrets don't Stay Hidden Forever


Get ready for another wonderful read! I could not wait to jump back into the world of Dominion City! Lucy and Margot...Two pieces of a puzzle, I could not wait to find out what secrets they hold. Sadly, yet expectantly not all is revealed in the second installment but much is! Everything is bleak with the world and looking bleaker still. There is just enough backstory to refresh the readers mind of what happened in the last book but not too much where it becomes redundant. This story still contains all the delicious elements of the first and maybe adding a dash of mystery. I am very good about figuring things out quickly and I am still at a loss. This is very exciting for me because I am sitting at the edge of my metaphorical seat and will remain there until the next installment. I don’t see how everything will tie together I just hope beyond the stars above that we get a HEA.

The Story, Storm is back Lucy is still here though her heart has fled along with her sister. There is a plan, Lucy will help Storm and Storm will help Lucy. Quid pro quo right? Wrong! So wrong, it is not funny…Not one bit. The story picks up right after the ending of the first. Margot went willingly to Russia but Lucy knows better she knows the sacrifice her sister made was to keep Lucy safe. Though Lucy is the rule follower and fixer of the Fox sisters something has changed. Fundamentally what used to drive Lucy is no longer there. She knows something nefarious is going on and she will stop at nothing to find out exactly who she and her sister are. Things are moving albeit slowly but just when it seems like attentions will turn to finding Margot a new distraction arises amongst the remaining population and Lucy is let down again. This prompts her to make a rash decision that she cannot turn away from. Thankfully she has made a strange alliance and she is not alone.

The Characters, this may be a bit of a spoiler but we don’t see the vile parents in this installment. I will also say the reader learns much about them and it is beyond mortifying. I want them to explain themselves and pay for their evil actions. Egads this installment picks up the steam factor between Lucy and her love. One thing I don’t understand is why they are dancing around their true emotions for each other. Both are hooked to each other! Just get married already and have superhuman super cute panther shifting babies already! Yeesh! Lol! The tension and attraction is very well written I feel what Lucy feels so I want her happiness. Key characters have secret agendas and there is a lot of mystery surrounding everyone from the most malevolent to the most benevolent.

The End, the reader sees firsthand the plans that have been laid out for years that are now coming to fruition. I’m happy to report there is a lot of action and explosions and shocking revelations. I’m going to say that again in the event you missed it the first time. There are SHOCKING REVELATIONS!!! The Dominion City rubber meets the Russian road in an eerily plausible way that is sure to delight readers everywhere. Lock and key let anyone try to control one of these girls and get ready for a fight. Lucy may not know exactly what happened to them and why but she will fight with every ounce of her being to protect her other half. I don’t know how everything will come to a close but what I do know is I’ve become very attached to these characters and I can’t wait to see what is next! I also can’t wait to find out more about Lucy’s new mysterious friend.

My Rating

4.5 The world is coming to an end and I can’t wait to see what happens next…I need answers like water for a parched throat. I also need Lucy to accept her feelings for Jared who dare I say gets even more amazing and steals my heart!!! Last but in no way least I need to know all of the answers 4.5 filled stars!

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review True North by L.E. Sterling! True North continues with the the mystery of Lucy and Margot. I still enjoy the relationship between Lucy and Jared and the story's mystery is being chipped away in this second book of the series. I don't want to give anything away, but what is happening to Margot is disturbing and horrific. The series does not end with this book and I think I will re- read the entire series, one book after the other, once it's completed. 4 stars for a creative dystopian world and character building!

I didn't like this book. I couldn't get into the book so I stopped reading early in the book

Let me say that for some reason I had in my head that this was going to be the final book, even though everything obviously says "trilogy". I am so glad it is not, though, because there are still so many unanswered questions, and I really need the romance between Lucy and Jared to finish the course that it is on, a bumpy, nail-biting slow course, but one I'm rooting for nonetheless.

This book starts out with Lucy trying to help Nolan Storm, the leader of the True Borns, in exchange for his help in finding her twin sister Margot, who disappeared along with their parents, after they were attacked at a party at their house. Still in the Dominion, Lucy is working with scientists to try to figure out what the huge tree that has shown up means. Along with trying to stay safe from the preacher and other gangs on the street that will kill Lucy or even trade her into slavery if they get her hands on it. She also has to go to parties with Storm and use her connection to the elite because of her family to help him get his agenda across. She's lost her connection with Margot, and it seems that Storm keeps finding one reason after another for why he can't help her just yet.

Finally Lucy decides to take matters into her own hands, and she sneaks out on her own to find Margot, to find her way to Russia with the help of a street vagrant named Alistair, who helped her out of a bind one day. She has to slip past Jared, her personal bodyguard, and also who she can't seem to stop thinking about. And while he seems to have the same feelings for her, he continues to push her away, insisting he can't, it's not right. His continued refusal makes Lucy doubt how much of his behavior is real, and how much is a show to help Storm keep her in line and working for him.

They will go on a trip, will run into so many other dangers, and learn that things are maybe worse than they'd thought, that the danger has spread further than anyone had guessed. Now I am eager for book 3, to find out just how everything will wrap up, like I said, especially with Jared!

I received an ARC copy of True North from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

Yikes. Another DNF series… I feel less terrible about not finishing True North than I do about Nexis and Redux because I actually made it 75% of the way through before packing it in. In any other situation, I would push through the last quarter of the book, but this was just so boring, I knew whatever happened wouldn’t be what I wanted to see out of the plot.

This series started out with an interesting premise. The world’s fallen to a plague epidemic and has been split between a hierarchy of Lasters (plague sufferers), Splicers (people who have received treatment for the plague), and True Borns (those who are completely immune to the plague). The lowest of the lower classes can’t afford treatment, and are left to inevitably die of the plague, while most of the wealthy upper class are Splicers, hogging all the possible treatments for themselves. True Borns for some reason I still don’t comprehend, are completely ostracised for being barbaric because they’re genetically different. Many of them have combined human-animal genetics, which I didn’t particularly care for. All it did give me was some pretty spectacular bloody fight scenes, which I could have had way more of. That’s what earned True Born its barely deserved third star...

Somewhere within this plot, Stirling’s trying to speak toward upper class greed destroying the world, but she just… misses the mark. The problem with this series is that she put her protagonist in the wrong class. I’ve read a hell of a lot of YA lately and far too much of it follows a princess, empress, or politician’s daughter and she’s kind of a privileged brat. All that privilege keeps getting in the protagonist’s way and it acts like a smoke screen over any message Stirling’s trying to express. The poor are depicted as disgusting and wallowing in the filth they created for themselves and there are far too many pervy old men sexually harassing girls who aren’t even legal adults yet being treated like “oh, haha, yeah, isn’t it funny how this happens so much in wealthy society??” These are things that go right over Lucy’s head and I kept waiting for her to become aware of her privilege and do something about it.

But it never happens.

There’s a little more of that in True North, where at least she’s aware of how horrible her wealthy social circle is and she tries to break away from it. But it doesn’t quite go beyond her hating the life she was brought into and feeling sorry for the Lasters for how lowly they are. She never has a real resolution to fix the problem plaguing the poor. She never considers convincing any of the elites to donate money to the cause, give them food and housing... Or even, you know, offer some kind of free clinic to help these poor people dying everywhere...

This is even more frustrating when it’s revealed that she and her twin sister, Margot, are genetic anomalies that literally hold the cure for the plague. Why doesn’t she immediately offer up her blood samples, or bone marrow to cure these people???

It may have something to do with the fact that she’s spending almost all her time falling into one of the worst YA romance traps of them all. She and True Born cat-man (yes, actually), Jared don’t even like each other. Nor do they enjoy each other’s company. They can’t have a single civil conversation with each other, but whoops! Guess they have to stick together, because they’re inexplicably in love! (Ok, but you don’t even like each other…) They spend more time arguing, then making out, then arguing again than they do making any cohesive plan to do any good. They also have one of the most bizarre meet-cutes I’ve ever read. He somehow manages to save her from falling over a school stairwell railing. They then spend ten whole pages having a conversation, while he’s holding onto her skirt the entire time. Ten. Pages. When my characters go on and on for that long in a precarious situation like that, that’s when I have to dial it back and rewrite the scene.

Girl, you have to rewrite the scene!

The romance is so dominating over everything else, it’s all the more clear that Lucy (and Margot) are utterly useless, which is shocking, considering they’re upper class girls in the middle of a plague apocalypse. Because they come from a wealthy family, they’ve been brought up to look pretty, talk eloquently during political events, and find a husband. They have absolutely no combat training, not even once Lucy joins the True Borns, who are predominantly either armed guards or soldiers. Whenever Lucy gets caught in a sticky situation, a man conveniently shows up to save her.

Because she’s a useless sack of beans.

Her sister is equally useless, if not more so. She spends the majority of the first book obsessing over boys and then playing the victim (which, admittedly was based on a horrible, traumatic incident). She’s so useless, she gets herself kidnapped and sent to Russia. That’s where True Born ends, which led me to automatically assume True North would pick up in Russia, where she’s off to find her missing sister.

Nope. We spend 300 whole pages faffing about with useless information instead. The author needed to get there from page one. I don’t need to know about how all these experiments are taking forever, and how all these socialite events are doing nothing to help her find her sister…

I know, because she’s all the way in Russia!

All of this could have been summed up within a chapter. Give me the run down, get her on a train, give her some information about her genetics, great. I’m there.

Oh, look. They’re in Russia already? Fabulous. Let’s get back to gory ass kickings and to the matter at hand. That’s all I needed.

Because we didn’t get to the actual plot until three-quarters of the way through, there was no way it was going to wrap up in the last 100 pages the way I envisioned it. True North feels more like a bizarre interlude before the series finale than anything else and I don’t appreciate it. Just make it a duology and cut the entire middle book.

There. Problem solved.

You can probably tell by now that this series in not well written. Not even the writing style has some saving grace. I often had moments where I wondered whether English wasn’t Stirling’s first language because she mixes up a lot of words with the wrong meaning. I would often read her similes and metaphors more than once just to check to make sure they were actually describing the thing she was describing. At some point, a character’s neck “bunches like grapes”. His neck. Bunches. Like grapes. Because he has more than one suddenly? I don’t know what’s happening or why Inigo Mantoya didn’t show up to inform her that he does not think that word means what she thinks it means…

I was going into this expecting kick ass blood and guts fight scenes, with maybe a zombie or two. Instead, I came out of it criminally bored.

This book has a quick pace that had me reading for hours unaware of how quickly time was passing me by. It was a very fast read! This series thus far I find is captivating, imaginative, and wonderfully unique. It’s not quite like anything I’ve read before and it’s holding me captive still. I anxiously await to read what happens next!

TRUE NORTH intertwines myth and science to create a future both frightening and intoxicating. Bursting with need, curling with mystery, and sighing with power, TRUE NORTH hauls the plot forwards seamlessly. Once caught in its claws you won’t be able to stop reading until you know all.
-pooled ink Reviews

True North is the second book in the True Born series which has introduced the world of Dominion City. A plague has descended upon the residents killing off a good portion of the population. Those that are left are divided into three groups, the Lasters, the Splicers and the True Born. Lasters are those who are beyond saving and on the last of their life, Splicers are those rich enough to keep up with procedures to prolong their life and the True Born are a bit of genetic mutation that are immune to the plague and carry properties of certain animals that have adapted to survive this world.

Lucy and Margot are identical twins who are nearing their eighteenth birthday where they should go through what is known as the “Reveal”. At a reveal party it is announced whether each member of society of their will become either a Laster or Splicers. True Borns being feared are not something that is often spoke of so the sisters expect to be of the other two groups. But after numerous rounds of testing no one wants to admit to what the twins could be.

Now in True North the story picks up with Lucy Fox having been abandoned by her family in Dominion City and relying on the True Borns to try to help to save her sister. Lucy however finds that Storm, the leader of the True Born has his own agenda and decides to set off to Russia to find her sister taking their fate into her own hands.

I have to admit I debated quite a bit on continuing this series since I wasn’t a huge fan of the first book. I wasn’t impressed with the relationship between Jared and Lucy, he was a bit of a jerk to say the least. The world building left a lot to be desired and the story seemed to be a bit on the predictable side. But curiosity got the better of me with wondering what would happen in book two.

While I did like this one a bit more than the first book I still think it suffers from the problems mentioned. There’s just things I question about the world that we’ve been introduced to and it still seems that the story just goes on in a predictable manor. Maybe a huge ending would make me more of a fan but right now I think this series is just so-so in the young adult dystopian fantasy world even though it sounded like one I should/would love.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

So I'll admit that it's been awhile since I read the first book in this series and because of that I had a hard time getting the feel of the second one. That being said, I really did enjoy the second book even though it took me a few chapters to get into the flow.

The book moves along at a really nice pace. I know some people were saying it drags in the beginning but I disagree, I'm one of those readers who really enjoys lots of extra set up and information so it ways nice to get that this time around because I do remember feeling like I missed out on some key character and story ideas last time.

Also I was glad that this book focused so much more on Lucy and how she's struggling with becoming her own person outside of Margot. I grew to like her more over the book, although she could be a little whiny at times.

The main relationship in this book still doesn't thrill me a whole lot, while I don't hate Lucy and Jared's romance, I'm not a big fan of it either. My biggest peeve with them is that the only time they seem to not be at each other's throats is when they're doing something sexual and in my humble opinion that's not what love really is. They should have more ability to be around each other normally and get along than just Jared feeling murderous whenever Lucy is in danger (plus his weird animalistic pull towards her he can't control) and her being unable to focus when he is close. Although I will admit to laughing at the whole "Jared doesn't like water" bit, that was cute.

Secretly I kind of want Alastair and Lucy to be a thing, but I know that's a huge pipe dream, maybe I can get on board for him and Margot because something tells me that's the direction the books are going to go. I mean honestly, that comment he made in the train car to Lucy, just perfect. If Alastair had his own spinoff book I don't think I would even mind, and that's a funny thing considering that he wasn't even in this book all that much but his character was just so charming I couldn't help but like him.

But...getting back the rest of the book, Resnikov and Lucy's parents are still totally horrible and it was so creepy with everything that was discovered in the end. But the kind of creepy that makes you intrigued, like the covers to this series, I'm just sitting there like "ooo where is this going..." the whole time. And yet still after all the reveals in the last few chapters there is still so much to be found out, especially in regards to Margot and I'm so curious what Storm's endgame is in this whole series. All of his playing around with Lucy in the Upper Circle was some great stuff, I definitely want more of that.

So overall I'm really looking forward to how this trilogy will wind down in the end and I'm super happy that I got the chance to continue reading this series because this second book really brought a lot more to the table as far as character depth and plot goes. Kudos to the author for being able to weave everything together so well and make her characters interesting as individuals and not just convenient archetypes for the story. Now by the time the last book comes out I will probably forget the plot of this book all over again like the first book...let's cross our fingers and hope not ;P

I had a hard time getting into this book, as I don't remember much that happened in the last book.

Lucy in this book did seem to be much less proactive and more reactive with trying to find her sister. Sure, she was held back by her circumstances, but I felt that she was too focused on getting Jared to love her than she was about finding her sister. She'd lament that her sister was her everything, then a paragraph later seems more worried about not being with Jared any longer for some reason or another.

I didn't really feel a connection to any characters. Again, this might have something to do with not remembering enough of the first book to draw a comparison to who was who. The only True Borns I remember from the first book are Jared and Nolan. Everyone else, I don't remember what role they played in the first book.

This sequel also felt a lot slower than the first book did. In the first book, everything was fairly fast paced, and while there was a still too heavy focus on a romance it didn't seem to take up page space as it did in this book.

I don't mind when or if a book has a romance in it, I just don't like when it takes precedence over what is supposed to be the actual threat or plot. Lucy and Jared's romance shouldn't take a bigger role in a book that is supposed to be about a girl trying to find her sister and possibly end a plague. The synopsis implies that she doesn't want to be attracted to him, but many of her actions and choices are in favor of staying with him and hoping that he loves her back.

It was a fine book, I just prefer my characters to be less reactive when it comes to certain things.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Neither the author or the publisher have influenced the review in any way and all opinions are my own.

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

The pacing for this book wasn't my favourite. The beginning was much too slow and even though there was the mystery of trying to figure out what Storm is up to it had me itching to just get onto whatever was coming next. Once Lucy made the decision and followed through on it to save Margot it got a lot better. I felt as stifled as Lucy in the first half and wishing that we could just move on from the politics and get to the bigger picture.

I kind of love that there is a marked difference between the girls' at the beginning of the first book and the ending of the second. I don't like what they went through but you can definitely see their loss of innocence and how the situations they have lived through as well as how the world they live in has changed them as they become aware of the world outside of their influence.It really shows the character development in them both. I sometimes forget that the girls are still only teenagers since they really don't act like it, nor does the world they exist in let them act that way.

I got really angry at Jared again in this book with the hot and cold attitude. He only slightly redeemed himself when he explained how he didn't want to push Lucy into something that would essentially shackle her for life. And she isn't even sure if that is what she wants although if the end of the book is any indication I think she is going to say yes. But I just feel like he is leading her on, since he has his loyalty to Storm, he isn't intending to have a committed relationship with her and yet he won't really let her move on either. I found it controlling of him and frustrating that Lucy lets him treat her like that. I thought that in the second book when he decided to help Lucy find Margot and disobey Storm that he would fully commit himself to her and I was really sad when I saw that that wasn't going to happen.

I still don't like Nolan Storm. I think he is exactly like the girls' father but he puts a nicer face on it. He says he is their guardian but like Lucy says, really the girls have only exchanged one prison for another. It really bothered me that Storm said that the girls have no choice in whether they want him to be their guardian or not. I'm also really interested in the fact that at the end of the book he wants them to go back to school. What is his angle there? I am also very worried that now that the girls are back together and under Storm's control. I feel like now that Lucy's weakness (Margot) is back in the equation, it will be much easier to control her and bend her to his will. I can't wait to see where the dynamic goes in the third book and how Lucy and Storm finally come to a head.

I'm interested in finding out exactly who Alastair is. I do think he is some kind of True Born, but I'm not quite sure what kind. It obvious that he has some powers and influence since he is in Dominion and yet has friends on the European continent. At first I thought he was part of the Gilt but since he was clueless when we met a member I'm starting to think differently. I'm kind of frustrated that I haven't figured out who he is yet and I can't wait to find out in the next book.

It was really interesting to hear about the Gilt. It is hard to imagine a world outside of the Upper Circle, but it looks like the Gilt is it. I think the merc Marcus is going to become a friend of Lucy later on. He did say he was going back to Dominion and he is rich enough to be a member of the Gilt now. I hope he becomes someone Lucy can rely on apart from Storm. Storm is supposed to be richer than anyone in Dominion, so is he a member of the Gilt as well? I feel like he isn't since he then wouldn't need the girls to get into the Upper Circle parties.

It is no wonder that people see the twins as the prophetic ones. It sounds like the both of them literally have the cure to the Plague in their blood which their parents and Resnikov want to make a profit off of. I do think Margot is right and that their parents really are going to come back for their investment. I'm only wondering how since they've lost their backer. And where are their parents now if they weren't with Margot? I'm sure we will find out what they were up to in the next book.

I'm now interested in what exactly the girls' blood is. What did they do to it? If they were Spliced in the embryo then why didn't they just become Splicers? How is it that doing something to their DNA in embryo makes their blood affect the Plague? I can't believe that we haven't got more answers by this point in time but that just makes me more excited to find them out later. I'm sure I am as frustrated as the girls are that we don't have answers.

Who is bankrolling the Lasters and the preachers that their reach stretches over continents? It must be like Lucy thought and a member of the Upper Circle or the Gilt must be helping them out. They are the only ones who could afford to do so. But why would they bankroll them? What do they get out of it? Is it so they can stay in the shadows? Why not use their influence and go directly to the source instead of indirectly through the preachers? I have so many questions that need to be answered!

I don't think Resnikov is dead. I do think that he really is in love with Margot which is really gross, since she is still a teenager and it isn't like she is a willing participant in the relationship. I think Resnikov is going to show up later on in another book and I'm sure he is going to be super angry with the girls since they blew up his baby factory and lost his love. That baby factory was disgusting though, especially since it didn't really surprise me all that much based on the world these girls live in. It did bring up some interesting things though. I think their own parents planned the attack on Margot, but for what end? They could have just taken them in instead of planning it. Maybe it was Resnikov then? But why the impatience? He could've just waited since their parents were willing to sell Margot off to Resnikov anyways. Also they have obviously been using some kind of DNA replication to create clones of Resnikov which I'm sure the brother/cousin of Resnikov who died in the first book was. Everything is so entangled, I'm looking forward to unentangling some of the mystery around the girls and see them really take control of their own futures.

Overall while I have some small problems with this book and the series I am enjoying it and I am looking forward to diving back into the world when the next book comes out. I am particualrly enjoying this different take on DNA and the science behind it. I think this series is an interesting take on the dystopian and I just want to know more and more and see what is possible inside this world. I hate having so few answers to even the most basic questions but it just makes me eager to read more so I can finally get them. It is a really good science fiction book for someone like me who doesn't read too much of the genre, but I definitely recommend you pick it up for the swoony romance. If you haven't started this series already, go out and pick it up now!

Rarely does a sequel live up to the hype of the original but TRUE NORTH manages to do just that. Author L.E. Sterling set the bar pretty high with her first book in the series, TRUE BORN, and she manages to rise above. Perfect blend of bleak dystopian landscape; mystery and political intrigue; and a hint of steamy romance will have readers eagerly turning pages. Fantastic characters will draw readers in. Can't recommend this book and series highly enough.

"If we listened closely to our bones, fought hard enough, showed the world we'd not back down, my sister and I could pull each other from the jaws of fate"

* *
2 / 5

Unfortunately, for a good chunk of True North absolutely nothing happens. I read this shortly after finishing True Born and what I expected was badass action scenes, exploration of Russia and how it differs to Dominion, more information about True Borns, more information about the preachers, and to discover the truth about the Fox sisters. True North manages to do the last one and throws in more of Jared Price being creepily intense and disturbing to compensate.

"I gave myself a choice: I could curl up in a ball and let the Plague take me. Or I could have faith in the magic buried deep in our blood and bones. I chose to believe"

Firstly, a couple of positives. The moment I started reading I noticed that the writing seemed a bit different; it was the same style but more sophisticated and I was impressed. Lucy remains consistent in her characterisation, so if you liked her in the last book you'll no doubt enjoy her here. There's also the introduction of a new character, Alistair, who is likeable and interesting and who I hope to see a lot more of in the next book. Unfortunately he gets pushed to the side when Jared makes his reappearance to continue his transformation into Edward Cullen: he's very possessive, likes smelling Lucy, and makes her cry a lot. He also keeps doing that hot-and-cold routine. Jared Price is not an attractive love interest or character anymore than he was in the first book.

"Around him the air crackles and blurs, especially around his head where the faint blue outline of na impressive set of antlers rises and tangles like a crown"

Nolan Storm also became less likeable, which is a shame. He's not in it for a significant amount of time and every scene spends time describing how crown-like his antlers are. After about the fifth time it got a bit tiring. I think the antlers are awesome, but I only need so many words dedicated to them! Storm is keeping Lucy safe in his tower as a ward whilst he manipulates the political world of Dominion which, somehow, keeps him busy and unable to fulfil his promise to Lucy about searching for her kidnapped sister, Margot. After roughly half the book has passed where not much has occurred, Lucy realises he probably isn't ever going to bother looking for her and takes matters into her own hands. Hurrah!

Then we get a chunk of good scenes. There's a boat, an interesting new character, then some train scenes and fights. All good stuff. In terms of action the second half of True North is a remarkable improvement. We get to find out more about why and how Lucy and Margot are so special and why the Russians might be so interested in them, whilst their parents seem to have vanished off the face of the earth - again. But the issue of the preachers and their slogans and graffiti gets almost entirely sidelined whilst new information about True Borns, one of the most interesting ideas in the series, is practically nil.

I was disappointed by True North. It definitely suffers from middle book syndrome and fails to have much of the political intrigue, Margot, Nolan Storm or awesome fight scenes that I liked from True Born.

“True North” is a fantastic continuation of the True Born series. Lucy is on her own with her parents and twin, Margot, gone- most likely to Russia. Lucy is in the care of Storm and the True Borns. The book begins with her helping them at parties and the like, while she is itching to go and locate Margot. Eventually, it becomes clear that the promises Storm made may not be ones he will keep, and Lucy sets out on her own to find Margot.

The book is steeped in mystery about the two girls. We begin to get some answers, but there are so many questions that we don’t feel as though we gain the right answers in this book. My only complaint about this book is that it is too short! I groaned when I realized I had hit the end- it’s too good and I wish I could continue it right now! The wait until the next book will be way too long!

The world is built a lot more in this book than the first, so for people who found the first to be lacking in that area, I think it will improve with this installment. As we see the rest of the world, we learn more about what is going on and what it’s like for people who are not in the Upper Circle and get a taste for other countries (though it is still limited with the fast pace). There is some really intense romantic tension between Lucy and Jared- it was a little rough at times because I love them together and really wanted them to be together, but it does fit their personalities and plot pretty well.

Overall, this was a fantastic, fast-paced installment to what is quickly becoming one of my favorite series, and I cannot wait for the next book! Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Another great book by L. E. Sterling! It had been a while since I read the first book, so it did take me some time to get back into the storyline. However, I quickly became acclimated to the world, characters, and dynamics between them. It was thrilling, engaging, and I had a hard time putting it down.

This book picks up where True Born left off. Lucy Fox is anxious to find her twin sister, Margot, after they were separated when Lucy chose to stay with Jared Price. She knows something is terribly wrong when she begins to feel phantom pain, which always signals when her sister is being hurt. Believing that Nolan Storm is stringing her along and unwilling to help her find Margot, Lucy runs away with a new ally and begins a voyage to Russia. There she will find more than she bargained for, including a truth that could change her entire future.

I enjoyed seeing the continued world building, especially the politics that are clear not just in Dominion, but in other countries as well. It opens the reader's eyes to a whole new level of knowledge, which kept me on the edge of my seat. The relationship between Lucy and Jared becomes even more complicated, and even though we find out why, it is still frustrating to see the way Jared and Lucy struggle with their feelings for each other. Jared made me angry on a number of occasions, but then he would be so caring towards Lucy and I began to see that his conflicted emotions were there because of his desire to keep her safe. While some may see it as an unhealthy relationship, this second book shows the depth of their love, even though it still remains largely unspoken.

The book ends on another cliffhanger, at least in my opinion. It's not all settled and there will definitely be a third book, if the ending is any indication. I am anxious to find out what happens next!