I don't know why I'm continuing onwards, because honestly, I hate Raven and so mostly this series just pisses me off.
Having finished the second book, we still don't have any more info. No more detail on the backstory, no more structure to what the shifter world looks like, no more understanding of her powers. I don't know anything more than I knew at the end of the last book.
And she's still a pretend badass, except now she's not even pretending anymore. I mean, someone attacks her and her beast wants to kill the attacker (who was trying to kill her), and she freaks out about struggling to control the beast. And acts like an emo douchebag, moaning about how no one is safe around her and she can't be trusted around people she cares about. Or someone (Griffin) barges into her house, acts like he owns the place, and insists on staying with her even though it's obvious that he's up to shady shit and he's giving her zero info about it. He bosses her around, comes to police crime scenes (and somehow not even the police object to this), blatantly hides things from her, and she tolerates every bit of it. Never questions his right to order her around, never throws his ass out of her house. This woman has no business being an alpha. She has power, sure (deus ex machina power, since we don't know anything about it or have any understanding of her limits), but she fucking sucks about using it, she lets everyone walk all over her, and she makes utterly idiotic decisions at all times. And I mean all times - if there's a choice to be made, Raven is like a compass pointing to the dumbest path, and she takes it every time.
It always works out for her, though, like a good Mary Sue.
This series has too many characters. They're all blending together into a mush of I-don't-give-a-fuck. There were a lot in the first book too, but that's normal for a first book. But rather than spend time digging in with Rylan, Dominic, London, Dina, Scotts (is he really racist? I didn't get that last book, but seems to be a thing in this book), Randolph, and whoever else from the first book, this one introduces like 5467938576 more that I can't keep straight and we never scratch below the surface of - Griffin, whoever his doctor friend is, Jaime, Aaron (or Adolf? whoever the alpha kid is), Jase, Kyle (I think?) and his brother, a new bitchy medical examiner who is so prejudiced that it was laughable, um, and some other people too but they are all blurring. Ob, Council, Kevin, Vivian, and people in their vicinity.
Oh, and hey, is Trish dead? From the first book? I kept waiting for her - or that other chick who wanted Taggert - to come popping up in this book as mean girls. Are they dead?
We get a little time with Jackson (meh), Durant (seems yum, but we've barely dug in), and Taggert (ugh ... plus, is no one else skeeved out that he's like 18 and we're told she's 28 in the first book?), because they have a date each with her, but again, no development. And for reals, do people label this reverse harem? Because she's barely kissed each of them one time, and we're 2 books in, and given that she freaks out any time anyone touches her, I feel like we're a long way from her being with one person, much less more than one.
And I'm sure other people have mentioned this in reviews, so I'm just going to touch lightly on it. This series seems to be trying really hard to emulate Anita Blake. But I wish it could emulate the good AB - I loved it for the first 4-5 books - and just leap into the bullshit of the later books. But the cast of characters is pretty much a one-to-one thing - Randolph is so clearly Edward (he was always my favorite), Taggert is Nathaniel (which probably explains part of why I don't like him, because I never liked Nathaniel either), and etc. I mean, it has been a long time since I read AB, and the direct correlation of the characters is still pretty obvious to me. Except Raven wishes she was Anita - before Anita because a walking magical STD, she was smart, strong, super capable, and in no way a pretend badass.
Last note: there are some SERIOUS copyedit errors in this book. There were some in the first book, but I feel like this book is 500% more - wrong word choices, sentences that were incomplete, all that stuff. If that's the kind of thing that bugs you, definitely steer clear.
Even though I really really shouldn't, I'm going to read one more because I would like to know what the fuck her powers are. And it seems like the next book is about that. I feel compelled - I can get a little OCD about finishing a series, and it kills me to have info dangled in front of me. I'm going to kick myself, though, I know it.