4.5 stars

Well damn! This trilogy loves having cliffhangers. That ending! This book was a crazy wild ride, just like the first.

If it's not outside forces trying to keep these two apart, it's these two's idiocy keeping them apart. Both scenarios pissed me off, because honestly! I know Kage is damaged, really damaged, and it makes sense and all that, doesn't mean I have to like how much he pushes Jamie away, and how much others try to keep them apart. Kage's uncle is a fucker, btw. We never really got much of him in the first and most of the second, but he makes a full appearance near the end and he's just plain horrible.

These two are frustrating but they are electric together.

The only thing that bothered me was that when these two clearly weren't together, they would call the other their "boyfriend" and say "they'd never cheat on me" and stuff like that and I'm sitting there like??? It's not cheating when you aren't together! But neither really does anything with anyone else anyway, thankfully. There is

Spoiler

this part where Jamie almost gets raped by these two assholes, and although that doesn't happen, trigger warning for that

.

But these two are going through a lot of shit, and has others bringing shit on them - Kage's uncle, the therapist hired by said uncle (I really do not like her. She does not seem ethical at all) - or just others having something judgemental to say about them - Jamie's sister and father, Kage's uncle, therapist, Layla (although I came to like her in this, and she becomes less judgemental over time), and so on.

I'm just kind of like "leave these two alone!" or more accurately "you don't know shit about their relationship" haha.

Also, hey, another thing that bothered me, this character introduced that was an old friend of Kage's, and he had no interest in Kage, but then he gets angry at Jamie for something he does, acts a little too...handsy with Kage, Jamie gets angry, the guy explains that he's angry at Jamie for what he did, but then later he seems to "appreciate" Jamie's looks, even though he seems to be angry at him, but then not so much? Eh, I didn't like him all that much. And the way he kind of forced himself onto Kage's

Spoiler

rescue mission to get Jamie away from the above assholes that really fucking annoyed me. Like who gave him the right? A lot of characters felt like they forced themselves into interacting with Jamie and Kage at various points and I was like really? Eh, whatever, minor annoyance.

The ending is another one to make you gasp and go wide-eyed. Definitely need the next one! Hopefully the next and final one doesn't end with that damned cliffhanger haha.

I didnt necessarily care for the sexual assault/rape in the first chapter, bit all in all it was a good read. Definitely the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Kage trilogy. Looking forward to continuing the series.

So, so bad. Couldn't finish. Stopped at 50%. Couldn't do it.

3.5

4.5 stars

Well damn! This trilogy loves having cliffhangers. That ending! This book was a crazy wild ride, just like the first.

If it's not outside forces trying to keep these two apart, it's these two's idiocy keeping them apart. Both scenarios pissed me off, because honestly! I know Kage is damaged, really damaged, and it makes sense and all that, doesn't mean I have to like how much he pushes Jamie away, and how much others try to keep them apart. Kage's uncle is a fucker, btw. We never really got much of him in the first and most of the second, but he makes a full appearance near the end and he's just plain horrible.

These two are frustrating but they are electric together.

The only thing that bothered me was that when these two clearly weren't together, they would call the other their "boyfriend" and say "they'd never cheat on me" and stuff like that and I'm sitting there like??? It's not cheating when you aren't together! But neither really does anything with anyone else anyway, thankfully. There is

Spoiler

this part where Jamie almost gets raped by these two assholes, and although that doesn't happen, trigger warning for that

.

But these two are going through a lot of shit, and has others bringing shit on them - Kage's uncle, the therapist hired by said uncle (I really do not like her. She does not seem ethical at all) - or just others having something judgemental to say about them - Jamie's sister and father, Kage's uncle, therapist, Layla (although I came to like her in this, and she becomes less judgemental over time), and so on.

I'm just kind of like "leave these two alone!" or more accurately "you don't know shit about their relationship" haha.

Also, hey, another thing that bothered me, this character introduced that was an old friend of Kage's, and he had no interest in Kage, but then he gets angry at Jamie for something he does, acts a little too...handsy with Kage, Jamie gets angry, the guy explains that he's angry at Jamie for what he did, but then later he seems to "appreciate" Jamie's looks, even though he seems to be angry at him, but then not so much? Eh, I didn't like him all that much. And the way he kind of forced himself onto Kage's

Spoiler

rescue mission to get Jamie away from the above assholes that really fucking annoyed me. Like who gave him the right? A lot of characters felt like they forced themselves into interacting with Jamie and Kage at various points and I was like really? Eh, whatever, minor annoyance.

The ending is another one to make you gasp and go wide-eyed. Definitely need the next one! Hopefully the next and final one doesn't end with that damned cliffhanger haha.

whew...so i tore into this one because of the way we were left dangling with no hope from a cliff in book 1. and while this does end with a bit of a shocker, it's not nearly as painful as the first ending. the writing is fantastic again - if you can pick this book up and put it down once you start, i'll be surprised.

kage had me on a bit of a roller coaster in this one. i liked him, then i didn't, then i liked him, then i didn't. we get more pieces to the puzzle that is michael kage but still not enough to know his whole story. we are starting to see why he does some of the things he does. he has moments of irrefutable sweetness and vulnerability and moments of sheer, pure a$$hole (mostly as a protective measure). i really hope we see him stand up for himself in book 3 and i'm super anxious to see how that unfolds.

jamie finally starts to own what he discovered in book 1 - that he's not as straight as he thought he was. he goes through quite a bit of emotional maturity in this book as he comes to terms with that. his addiction to kage makes him seem weak at times but i'm not sure he is...i think he just really is as enthralled by kage as we are and can't let him go. he has moments of up and down, but not as severely as kage.

dr. tanner - kage's therapist - appears to be a puppet in this show instead of actually looking out for kage's best interests. i'm anxious to see what happens with her since she doesn't seem to be helping him as much as doing what she's told to manipulate him.

needless to say, we need book 3 stat and these boys better get their happy ending!!

A really fast-paced read, but I feel like this book and the first one could be one? Don't know what to think of the ending..