How do I tell her she is a trained assassin for Celestium, a Sentinal whose job it is to kill? How do I help her see that her memories are real? -Aydan

Libera Me book 2 of the Requiem Series by [a:Christine Fonseca|4077598|Christine Fonseca|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1276190352p2/4077598.jpg] picks up a few months after we last saw Aydan in a high school in Puget Sound, Washington. Aydan is now in a relationship with a girl named Vanessa, Nessa for short, who has no memories of her life for the last 15 years as she was kidnapped when she was three. Or at least that is the story she believes. Aydan believes that it is his Nesy, alive and human. He is determined to help her remember him and what they meant to each other.

But is Nessa really Nesy? The Council of Celestium doesn't think so when Zane, Nesy's best friend and a Mediator, reveals what he has learned from watching Aydan and Nessa. The Council, all save Mikayel, believe Nesy dead. What they do not know is the deal struck between Zane and the demonic smoke (that just sounds evil!!) to keep Nesy alive after she sustained a wound from Azza at the end of book one. What was a part of this deal? Zane gave all his memories of Nesy and his angelic senses to the smoke in exchange for Nesy to live, even if only as a human. However Zane becomes obsessed with finding her, making sure that what he lost still lived.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this addition to the Requiem series. I fell in love with Zane, who we get to see his POV in this book along with Aydan's. In book one, I saw Zane as the obnoxious, know-it-all best friend. No longer do I see him as this. He is heartbroken by Nesy's death and strikes a deal to keep her alive. Not just because they were friends, but because even though it is forbidden and she loves someone else, he loves her! And I love him for it! His passion and obsession with his friend melted my heart. I cried with him, felt his joy and his anger.

Aydan however I still don't love. I'm so apathetic towards this character. I just cannot seem to get his suffering. He chose to avenge Nesy and take a deal with Azza. He chose to become the Beast. Now as he tries to redeem himself as a human, he still has those same urges, to kill and feed on the desperation and fear around him. He loves Nessa, a girl who may or may not be Nesy who is supposed to be his one true desire, his destiny. Just like in book one, there is a lot of wishy-washy feelings with Aydan. Will he succumb to the beast? Is it just nightmares or did it really happen? I was confused a majority of the time when I was reading Aydan's POV. But I think this was on purpose, because really Aydan is bipolar. He has both a soul and the Beast residing in him. The question is will he let it out?

When I read book one, my favorite character was Azza, but he is missing in this installment. But you know what? It was okay that he was. Because there's a new villain, and you don't know who or what it is until the end so I'm not spoiling that one!!! However, it just makes for a great book when you know there is evil but you don't know who to blame or fight. It just builds the fear.

Then the conflict in Celestium. There's a lot of secrets being kept between the Council members, a lot of distrust between Zane, Cass, and Caim (the angel who replaced Nesy in their team). All of this builds up to what I hope will be an epic conclusion in Book 3.

The edition I received also contained two short novellas. The first Mea Culpa is Zane's story. This is what happened to Nesy and what did Zane really bargain with when he made his deal with the demonic smoke. I loved this insight and really wish I would've read it before reading Libera Me because it would've added to the story. The second Enigma is Lorelei's story of the Seers. This gives a huge insight into how Lorelei survived after Elle/Nesy was killed in Germany. There's a surprise character in it that I was shrieking for joy when I read the name. And I feel that this short story will be influential in Book 3.

If you've not read book one [b:Lacrimosa|18145062|Lacrimosa (Requiem, #1)|Christine Fonseca|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1372741623s/18145062.jpg|18451305], please do yourself a favor and read it first. Otherwise you will be lost in book two and you definitely want to read book two! I loved this story and cannot wait to start on book three and see what happens to Nesy, Aydan, Zane, Cass, Caim, and Azza.

I received a copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.