Review: Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Endless Knight
(The Arcana Chronicles #2)
Kresley Cole
Release: October 1, 2013
Add to Goodreads  Buy at Amazon

In this seductive follow-up to Poison Princess, #1 New York Timesbestselling author Kresley Cole takes us deeper into the dark world of the Arcana Chronicles.

Shocking Secrets
Evie has fully come into her powers as the Tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. She now knows that the teens who've been reincarnated as the Tarot are in the throes of an epic battle. It's kill or be killed, and the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

Unexpected Allies
With threats lurking around every corner, Evie is forced to trust her newfound alliance. Together they must fight not only other Arcana, but also Bagmen zombies, post-apocalyptic storms, and cannibals.

Gut-Wrenching Treachery
When Evie meets Death, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she's drawn to the dangerous Endless Knight as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a history, one that Evie can't remember—but Death can't forget.

Review:

Endless Knight is the second in Cole's young adult series, The Arcane Chronicles. The first in this series, Poison Princess, was one of my favorite reads of last year, young adult or otherwise, and this sequel has been on my 'most anticipated' list for the whole year. Endless Knight lived up to all of my expectations and wowed me, proving once again why Kresley Cole is such a force to be reckoned with in the writing world!

I just love everything about the world in The Arcana Chronicles and in this sequel we get to delve even further into this world. The scorched earth, the apocalyptic aftermath, the characters from Tarot cards brought to life in a killed-or-be-killed tournament to the death...what's not to love? Everything is so original and well-thought out that readers can't help but get lost in this world.

All of the teenage characters manage to feel like realistic teens - from Evie's real anxiety about the possibility of having sex with Jack for the first time to Finn's nervous flirtations with a newcomer - but at the same time they feel deep and complex. Evie is battling her inner villain and trying to grasp the nuances of this new Arcana world. We get to see a lot more of her powers in this book and I feel like we're getting to see Evie grow and flourish in her abilities. At first, when we learned what her abilities were, I didn't really grasp how powerful she could be. But, with the end of the previous book and what we see from her in this one, I'm certainly impressed by her wide range of abilities and how she can control nature.

Jack is trying to come to grips with what he saw of Evie at the end of Poison Princess, and let's just say he's not taking it well. But, Jack and Evie's passion for each other flies off the pages and I love my Cajun man! Team Jack!

Death becomes an even more important character in this one, as we finally get to meet him and see his interactions with Evie and other Arcana. He is a complicated fellow, that Death, and I certainly learned more about him than I expected. I predicted that he and Evie had some sort of history that was going to be vital to this story, but I was totally surprised by the details of it and blown away when I found myself momentarily screaming Team Death! (momentarily)

If you're looking for an epic world to get lost in, then check out both books in this series. If you were a fan of Poison Princess then you will be completely beside yourself while reading Endless Knight and when you're finished you'll be begging Ms. Cole for MORE!

Recommended for fans of: world-bulding, characters with magical abilities, comic book heroes, Tarot, and the Shatter Me series.

This review is baed on a finished copy of the book provided by the publisher.

    

  5 /5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:
Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)