The writing was just as beautiful and unique as I remember from the first book, but, similarly, it also dragged and became a little repetitive. I am definitely standing by my statement that these books should not be this long, especially since it simply doesn’t have a very elaborate story to tell. The plot is fairly simple and uncomplicated, and not much of anything happens. 

The reason I liked this book less than I did the first one is because I felt less of an emotional connection between the characters here as I did there. Not only is Gordo someone I personally felt less sympathy and love towards than I did Ox, but it was also clear that Gordo’s relationships with everyone else were less intense and well-developed. Perhaps it’s because Gordo was so incredibly angry at everyone and everything for such a long time, but I also feel like the author simply chose to include less bonding scenes in this book. 
I mean, Gordo’s relationship with the other pack-members all felt rather surface level and really didn’t have a whole lot of meat to it. The most interesting relationship Gordo had with anyone else was with Thomas, and he was already dead at the beginning of this book, so those complex and intricate feelings were only present through flashbacks.
Even Gordo’s relationship with Ox, which was one of my favourite things about the first book, felt inconsequential and insignificant here. They hardly ever interacted and I didn’t feel any of the love between them that they used to have. I had a lot of expectations from their relationship, but it failed to deliver on every front. I really thought Gordo would be really protective of him and see him as a son, but he never really thought about Ox in any special way. It was disappointing. 

Lastly, the romance also felt a little random in the sense that we were being told they had this deep-rooted mating bond, but we weren’t being shown. Gordo and Mark’s interactions were few and far between, and even when they did interact it wasn’t one filled with love or longing or tension or chemistry; it was all a little bland and uncaring. Gordo was angry, and Mark just… existed. Mark never fought for Gordo (not in the past or in the present), and Gordo never made any attempt at forgiveness. Neither of them ever really showed me that they truly loved each other, not through words or through actions.

All in all, this was a bit disappointing for me, but the writing itself remained gorgeous. Maybe it’s a little crazy, but I mostly enjoyed this book because of how pretty and lyrical and engaging it was to read, but not really because of the actual content.