Mind bending twists

While book 1 felt slow and left me a little cold in both the romance and shady secret societies department, book 2 did not have these issues. I was immediately grabbed by the mystery, and the mind bending contradictions of Eva’s life in shambles. It is romantic suspense, but the romance mostly runs in the background and serves as complement to the main plot rather than competing for attention. We get to dig deep into Eva’s psyche, however Adam starts out as an intriguing and mysterious but honorable male lead, but we never truly get to know his character and he remains much of an enigma.

We met The Eight in the last book, and we meet The Swords in this one. But this is a story that doesn’t just spotlight the mysteriously sexy aspect of secret societies, it also explores their dark, seedy underbelly. It goes deep into themes of centuries old institutions built upon white male privilege and entitlement, and the dire need to dismantle them to remake them anew, more inclusive and better than before. It dives into themes of mental health and nature vs nurture, and the thin line between legal and unethical that powerful people often feel entitled to cross, and its far reaching repercussions.