I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you loved book one, book two is somehow even better. Everything I loved in the first book is here and multiplied: Percy and Joe's incredibly witty, cerebral, and irreverent banter; an uptempo pacing that careens from one chaotic conflict to the next; a plot that feels as though an innocuous snowball hit the slope and grew as it rolled ever more quickly into a giant avalanche filled with humour, shock, awe, and hysteria (in both senses of the term). Lockwood pulls no punches in this book and I could hardly process starting the book laughing out loud multiple times, to avidly reading in utter astonishment only a few chapters later. And to top it all off, the prose itself is exquisite and delectable, that melt in your mouth deliciousness that makes this book a true joy of an experience to read.

Knowing what I know now about this book, would I still read it if I went back in time?
Absolutely!


 See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book



CHARACTERS: Where do I even begin? Percy and Joe are so wonderfully flawed. Not only do we see them attempting to hitch over relationship hiccups, but they're placed in positions throughout the story that would have them separated forever depending on the heartrending choices they must make in order to save the other. We're gifted once again with third person omniscient, so we don't have to miss a single glorious moment in their thoughts and actions when they are present. I utterly adore their hearts. They both have a wild compassion and chaos to them that truly drives everything they do. Joe's humanity seems more obvious at first, but Percy's empathy becomes just as prevalent throughout the novel. The interplay between their hearts and their actions stemming, at the core, from love, creates two truly fascinating characters to read. We are also gifted more screen-time from Leo and Althea as well, and a few of the scenes with the ensemble cast are some the best! It's truly impossible not to cheer for them, laugh at them, laugh with them, and breathe in so many easy sighs because their temperaments and worldviews are so refreshing! You won't be bored, not with such complex and dynamic characters.



PLOT: SO. MUCH. HAPPENS. This plot is tumultuous and anarchic in the absolute best way. A sacred irreverence permeates the whole story, from our usual art-theft to other supernatural hijinks and utter mayhem that occurs throughout. While I personally did not get triggered, do read the CWs from the author if you are in any way someone who has common triggers, because this story does not skimp. Nothing about this plot is skin deep. Even the banter between Percy and Joe is distinctly cerebral. The religious themes of faith and the sacred collide with the sacrilege of murder and sin in the juiciest of ways. From page one this is a wild ride of a plot that will not let you go until the very last word of the epilogue.



EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.

4/5:high. Immersive, bombastic, violent, stormy, and overflowing with love and one of the steamiest scenes I've read, this story isn't for the faint of heart, but Lockwood also protects our hearts all the way through the novel.



CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled? 

100%. And this is a rare score from me, but true. Somehow the climactic events ended up turbulent and wild in perfect proportion with the rest of the plot. Even I didn't expect the twist that occurred. W.H. Lockwood is one of the few authors I know who can shock me into gasping out loud, bursting into laughter on the next page, only to go right back to being utterly astonished in the span of a sentence. I cannot give this tale enough kudos.