I have mixed emotions about this one. In some ways, it's better than book 1. But in others, I think it's much worse.
What makes this book better is that there is considerably more in the way of a plot. It's not perfect--there's a lot of secret keeping from Azalea and hence, from the reader, that ultimately just frustrated and left me wanting.
If you know this is a fairy tale retelling (and how can you not, we're told almost immediately that Azalea's last name is GOTHEL), then you know the "twist" that's deliberately kept hidden for most of the novel. The task of the plot, then, is to figure out how Bellatrix Gothel came by her (not so) beloved daughter.
Bellatrix's past, and her current profession should have played a MUCH bigger role that it did. Because it is complex and really interesting. It's much more complex than you first expect.
Except we don't really get any information until the 11th hour, when it comes from Bellatrix herself. And it feels like a late-stage info dump rather than a meticulously thought-out and planned reveal. There are a few clues dropped, but they're done in such a way that they're not at all revealed to Azalea, and when information is spoken about amongst the male characters in this book, it's vague, and filled with half-answers. People don't finish their sentences, they use pronouns instead of proper names. And it makes it difficult for me, the reader, to keep stuff straight in my head. Even when on an intellectual level I knew what was happening, the details never really fell into place until Azalea herself learned them about 25 pages from the end of the book.
If this book had dropped better hints, if it had involved the reader (if not Azalea herself) in the process the men undertake to figure out what the fuck is up, it would have made for a much more satisfying read. But the men controlling information just ended up suppressing any interest the plot may have had.
And let's talk about control for a minute. Obviously this is a BDSM sort of book. There's a Dom/Sub dynamic. Which might have been fine. Except for the fact that Azalea has zero experience with men, and with the world at large. Her choices are submit to Peter or get whipped anyway. And that's hardly an option for a woman who has never had a man touch her in any other capacity before.
The relationship is what REALLY drags this book down for me. Like in book 1, there isn't really a connection between Peter and Azalea outside of the bedroom. He doesn't really know anything about her outside what she likes in bed and that she's a graphic designer. And I'm not 100% convinced he knows what she likes, because he spends a lot of time TELLING her she likes things, just because she's wet. Wetness doesn't ALWAYS mean we're turned on, right, ladies?
In fact, it's like pulling teeth for Peter to get the truth out of her every time he asks her an intimate question. She fibs and undersells herself constantly, and often when we're in her perspective she feels humiliation, shame and embarrassment. And even when she DOES express desire for something, it's tempered by the fact that WE know she's never known any other way. So do either of them really know anything about her, about what she likes and doesn't? The fact that she never DISLIKES anything is irritating and concerning and wholly unrealistic. Someone that inexperienced should realistically have some misgivings about some things. Instead, everything Peter does to her she ends up just over the moon for.
And outside the bedroom? This book suffers from the same problem as in book 1.
In book 1, Ash only knew that Ellie liked being a sub and painting, so there's a theme here. But what makes this worse for me than Ash and Ellie is that Azalea herself hasn't been given the opportunity to figure out shit for herself yet. She hasn't experienced ANYTHING outside of Peter. She hasn't been out in the world to discover her own personality, likes, and interests (and I'm not talking about just sexual stuff). The girl doesn't HAVE a personality yet, because she hasn't been ALLOWED to have one for 23 years.
You mean to tell me that she goes from entirely sheltered into a Dom/Sub relationship and is 100% happy with it? I suppose if she knows nothing else...
But the thought of that sort of gives me the ick. If she CHOSE that sort of relationship, after having experimented around a bit, fine. But I don't think it's realistic, or healthy, for someone with zero experience to go immediately into that kind of kinky relationship without knowing ANYTHING else. BDSM isn't something virgins just walk into and make their whole personality forever, you know?
It's even odder when you juxtapose the relationship she had with Bellatrix and the one she carries on with Peter. He keeps saying that she's free, but she's not. He's commanding her 24/7. Punishing her when she tries to have a backbone and stand up for herself and speak about what she wants. She asks questions, and gets no answers--HE controls information as much as he does her body. And I'm not sure he says she's free to make her own choices enough to convince me that that's actually true.
Instead, it feels like the information is withheld from Azalea as another means to control her.
This book was another very, very easy read for me. And it's not unlikable, despite the issues I bought up here. If anything, I just wish it hadn't been so short, so that we would have had more time for the plot elements to be fully fleshed out and for Azalea to really come into her own.
This one's a straight 3 for me.