Publication: May 17th 2016 by Bastei Entertainment
Source: Received a free copy of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. Thank you!
Goodreads Summary: Dimitri would like nothing more than to live a low-key life in Naples, Italy. His girlfriend, Syd, has other plans. After three months of researching, she is positive she has found a jinn on a killing spree in San Diego, California. Since Syd gave Dimitri the one thing he thought was out of reach, he feels obligated to use his ill-gained talents for her cause.
A few hours back in the US proves that Dimitri and Syd didn't quite make the clean escape they had thought. As they trail the elusive jinn, someone else trails them. What should have been a simple trip to confirm once and for all if the jinn are living among humans, instead reveals a community keeping dark secrets.
Unfortunately for Dim, the only way out is in.
Goodreads Page
My Thoughts:
I picked this up right after finishing the first book in the series, Summoned. I was hoping to be taken on another journey that I would enjoy as much as the first one, but the sequel left me underwhelmed overall.
I liked picking up with Dimitri so soon after the ending of the first book. It was nice to read that at some point he had a semi-normal life and that he was starting to try to settle into his newfound freedom. But then of course his life is yanked up from under him and he's thrown back into the jinn world that he just managed to escape. The action in this book was faster-paced and had more cohesiveness than the first one did which I definitely appreciated. I was engrossed reading as Dimitri and Syd discover the secret of JiNet and I really liked the idea of an organization like it and thought it was very realistic.
However, I have two main qualms in this book: Syd is terrible and I wish she would disappear, and the whole Kalila thing was so bizarre and hard to understand.
Firstly, Syd definitely wasn't a favorite character for me in the first one but she did start to grow on me by the end of the book. But in this one, she drove me absolutely crazy with how selfish and self-centered she is. All Syd cares about is herself and her ambitions yet puts a nice cover on it by saying she wants to help other jinn. When really it's just that Syd is obsessed with jinn and will stop at nothing to discover and learn more about them just as she has her entire life. And Dimitri, who is supposed to be the love of her life basically, is always a secondhand thought when he isn't useful for her. I don't understand how even with Dimitri's own doubts that he voices multiple times throughout the book, he could stay with her. Ugh.
Then, secondly, the Kalila thing was so poorly explained I'm still left with a giant question mark above my head. WHY? That's my main question. WHY is she being targeted as opposed to the other jinn under the same control??? What did she do? Why is she hated? Why does she cause so many problems apparently and can't be kept under control? She was such an awkward character and I'm left wondering why concern for her was supposed to carry half the book when there's no explanation given. If it had been explained better, I probably would've given the book another star but it was just so confusing and such a large part of the book that it should have been handled better.
Lastly, I still love Dimitri. He's a fun character with a uniquely humorous voice that is not used much in New Adult. He's still the same bumbling, sarcastic person that we met in the first book and I'm supremely happy that he was the same in the sequel.
Likes: Dimitri's sarcasm and personality. Faster paced and more action in this one. Plot was more cohesive.
Dislikes: Syd. Ugh. Kalila's story and history has no explanation as to why she's a target and suffering from what she is from the same hand that does nothing to the other person under his control. What???
Overall:
Recommend? Yes, even with all of my qualms mentioned.
Reading the Next One? Yes.
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