Rating: 5/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.
This is book two of The Palace Series and let me tell you, I loved the first book, but Stephanie took this book to a whole new level. There was so much hurt and sadness, but then so much strength and joy that this book has surpassed the first one for me. I am honestly still having a hard time writing down how wonderful this book was. I cried; my heart broke and then the happiness and the adventures in this book made me laugh and I found myself rooting for Allorie.
This book will take you to a place where Allorie never thought she would be, a place she never thought she would never escape from, and a place that still haunts her awake and asleep, but you will watch her crawl her way back from this darkness and fight to remain there with her family and friends. You will see how strong Allorie really is not just physically but mentally as well. I know that I have found another favorite female baddie with her. You will see the journey that everyone told her wasn’t for her, even after everything that she fought to come from. You will see who real friends/family are and the ones that she would have never thought to be on her side.
I loved this plot, like even though it destroyed me to read the first part, to be there for the second part was amazing. Stephanies way with words really helps with vivid details to what was happening in the story to the point where you could close your eyes and see the scene playing out. You will be there with Allorie through the hardships, but you will also be there with her at the joyful moments. I found the pace of the book to be great, it was slow for the build up and for all the dark parts (when you read the book you will understand), but even though it was slower it still was fast paced. You will find action, love, strength, joy, and adventures. I found the book to be easy to read and the characters to be easy to connect with.
I loved Allorie in the first book, but to see what she goes through in this book and to see the strength that it took for her to crawl her way out of the darkness was something else. I would seriously compare it to a Sarah J. Maas book, it was that great. I found her story to be hard to read because the author gets you to understand what darkness she was in but no worries you will see the light and watch this amazing MFC come back from there to be something more. She still has her moments of doubt, but I found that to be human, and really helped me to connect with her more. I loved that no matter what she held on to hope, even when the darkness was closing in on her she still tried. The growth with this character alone was the best. With Maxus, you can see the true love with these characters, no matter what they go through. You will see him have a hard time with what Allorie went through but he is still there by her side, and he isn’t going anywhere. He is her support through all of this, and he helps to build her back up. I loved that no matter he was there supporting her through all her choices that she made and was there for her even when it put herself in harm's way. He is really a great MMC for Allorie, I really couldn’t put her with someone better. Oh, and their spicy scenes were done well, just the right amount of sexy.
I really need book 3, I said it in my review for book 1 but now I need book 3 after this emotional roller coaster. I have to know what is next. If you love books with fae, royals, magic, sirens, touch her and die, baddie females and great supportive males you need to read this romantasy series and now.
I want to thank Stephanie Ferandez for the opportunity to review this book.