3.5 stars

This was a pretty good follow-up, and if you liked the first I would recommend it. Good themes, sacrifice & friendship, interesting worldbuilding, & decent writing.

However, this loses points for two reasons. (non-explicit discussion of sex under spoiler tag)

Spoiler

First, the implication that two characters *cannot* be in a relationship because then they'll have sex and then she'll get pregnant, which would be bad. Now, it's true, getting pregnant when you're literally trying to save everyone from evil monsters may not be the best idea. However, no one ever suggests that perhaps she could just... not have sex with her boyfriend? This seems to be completely off the table, and every time they kiss, one or the other ends up running away out of fear they'll go too far. To the best of my knowledge, it is actually possible to kiss someone without having sex.

(Side note, no one ever mentions the possibility of non-hormonal birth control/NFP, although there is a frank conversation about birth control & IUDs. So. I guess we're just ignoring that as well.)

Second, when they finally get around to actually being in a relationship, they do have sex. Like, that very hour. And the description was much more explicit than I expect in a YA book. I understand the book is marketed to adults, but the characters are teens & other than the sex this book is appropriate for older teens.

For older teens/adults only. Content warning for occasional profanity, discussion of sex/birth control, and a non-fade-to-black sex scene.