The Rise of the Wyrm Lord

The Door Within #2

by Wayne Thomas Batson

The next exciting adventure in "The Door Within" Trilogy. Separated from his friend by a thousand miles and unable to return to The Realm of Glimpses himself, Aidan Thomas needs a way to reach Robby with the message of King Eliam, the one true King. Enter Antoinette Lynn Reed, a bright but headstrong young lady who believes in the Scrolls of Alleble and has a passion for full-contact Kendo. When Aidan discovers that Antoinette has been called to enter The Realm, he solicits her help to find Robby's Glimpse before it is too late. When she arrives in Alleble, however, Antoinette finds the kingdom is in turmoil. Alleble's allies are inexplicably beginning to turn away, renouncing former ties with King Eliam. And there are rumors that the dark Prince of Paragory is seeking an ancient evil to crush Alleble once and for all. Can Antoinette and a team of Alleble's finest knights learn the secret of Paragory's growing power? And will they be able to stop the rise of the Wyrm Lord?

Genres: Fantasy, Christian Fiction, Young Adult, Christian, Fiction, Adventure, Middle Grade

339 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2006

About the author

Wayne Thomas Batson was born in Seabrook, MD in 1968. He had an adventurous childhood and adolescence that included: building forts in the woods, crabbing and crayfishing in bays, ponds, and bayous, playing lead guitar in a heavy metal band, and teaching tennis lessons at the local recreation center. He attended Gabriel DuVal Senior High School where he wrote for the school’s newspaper and literary magazine. He was voted “Most Talented” in his senior year, and wrote this for his Yearbook Senior Goal: “To become a published author.” Little did he know that God had even greater plans.

Wayne Thomas Batson has spent the last thirty years teaching Reading and English to Maryland middle school students. Wayne Thomas Batson lives in Eldersburg with his extraordinary wife of 26 years. His four adult children intermittently live at home whenever their unexpected adventures lead them.

Batson’s writing career began in 2005 with the publication of fantasy epic, The Door Within. Since then, The Door Within, The Final Storm, Isle of Swords, and Isle of Fire have all appeared on the CBA Young Adult Bestseller List, including #2 for The Final Storm Fall 2007. To date, Batson has penned or coauthored seventeen novels and has sold well over half a million copies.

Wayne Thomas Batson gives thanks to God for the abundant life he’s been given. He continues to write for the people he cares so deeply about because he believes that, on a deep level, we all long for another world and yearn to do something important.

Reviews

[Sterling.Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some things that I think could have been batter. 1the person who is in the first book is only in this book for the first 50 pages and then after that he is gone and you don't see him for the rest of the book. 2 The book is really fast and sometimes you get confused about things that should have been explained. There is not a lot of character development in this book either. You don't get to know the characters mostly because of the speed of the book.

[Kaytlin Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite...last 10 or so chapters redeemed the book for me... Honestly, Antoinette and I just did not click. I was annoyed with her for almost the entirety of the book.

Characters:
It starts with Aiden, which had me excited, and the POV shifts to Antoinette about 10 or fewer chapters in and stays in her POV for the majority of the book. You know all those stubborn female stereotypes? Yeah, that's Antoinette. She made one stupid decision after another until I quit caring because it was like, "Seriously? What did she think was going to happen after last time?"
I was glad that the last ten or so chapters panned to all the other knights with just one or two Antoinette moments sprinkled it. Made the ending amazing, in my opinion. Though you will want to have book 3 on hand as 2 ends on a pretty big cliffhanger in regards to one of my favorite characters...Aiden's glimpse who's name I don't know how to spell because I listened to the audio.

Themes:
That sometimes deeds are mightier than the sword...I think, didn't come through super clear, but I'm pretty sure that's what Batson was going for.

Language:
N/A

Magic:
Not at all... Everything is created for good and some things have been currpoted. Other things have been locked away by the King, but magic whatsoever is even mentioned.

Romance:
There are some slight crushes between characters... nothing super detailed and no kisses.

Violence/Gore:
There are fights, battles, wounds, burns, people are stabbed, burned until nothing but ashes remain (no detailed), mentions of dragons fighting and one ripped off another creatures limb....nothing is super detailed or grotesque but you get a clear idea of the devastation of war.

Overall:
The last several chapters with the battle and different POVs saved the book. We'll see what I think of the third book.
It's hard because I was reading this to see if my sister would enjoy the series... she'd like the first book and hate this one... so yeah, don't think this series is gonna work out. On to the next thing, I guess.😂

Recommend ages 13+

[Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the Door Within, but this book just blew the first one out of the water. I can't believe how good it was. I almost immediately got up, went to my bookshelf and grabbed the third one. The only reason I didn't, is because I have to do a blog tour book next.

If you haven't seen this trilogy in real life, I recommend looking for it at your local bookstore. Tommy Nelson (publisher) did a marvelous job with this book. There is colour like I have never seen in a book before. The graphics, fonts, colours, everything is amazing.

These books are definitely worth owning, and are a wonderful allegory to Christianity (I believe they were written with that intent), but are striking fantasy on their own (if you chose to not make the connection).

Due to some scary themes and scenes, I would vote this trilogy be reserved for those over the age of 14 (depending on the teen's maturity level).

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was amazing!!! The second book to the Door Within is a wonderful 'sequel'! I loved it!

[Derek Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes I am still reading, and it is very slowly, my b. These books engage the imagination in a nice kind of brain tickley way. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Katie W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing adventure! I was reminded how important it is that we share the good news of Christ with people! And I also was reminded that our faith can help us overcome fear : )

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oo! This book gave me a lot of chills when I read it, but I loved it all the same. It is wonderful, though kind of sad. Does he have to keep killing people like that? Great sequel!

[Abigail McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) The last five chapters of this had me legitimately stressed because I couldn't remember who makes it out, lol
2) Sir Aelic was one of my first book boyfriends and I had forgotten that fact until now
3) Yes I will be diving into The Final Storm immediately and yes I'm very much looking forward to it.

[Lauryn]

O my gosh! I was on the edge of my seat with this one! Cannot wait to read the next one, I can barely breathe!!

[Lori Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book series is so good, we finished this one last night and started right away on the final one!

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, Wyrm Lord Readers!

Wayne Thomas Batson here. I wanted to thank all of you who put Isle of Fire on your ToBeRead list. I'm honored to be worth your time.

Isle of Fire will release the first week of September. It is available for preorder on Amazon as well. In fact, if you preorder it on Amazon and email me to tell me you have ordered it, I'll send you a signed and personalized bookplate sticker for your new book.

email me at: batguy21784@yahoo.com

Here's the official Isle of Fire blurb:

"A great explosion rocked the crowded harbor. Flaming debris screamed into the sky and then rained down into the burning water below. The ferocious blaze engulfed ship after ship expanding the circle of destruction in mere heartbeats. The fire rain had been unleashed."

As Cat's memory returns, he realizes that he has lived two very different lives: One as the son of the ruthless Bartholomew Thorne; the other as the recipient of friendship and kindness from Declan Ross and the crew of the Robert Bruce. Now Cat must choose whether to return to the ways of his notorious father and join the evil Merchant, or defy the Merchant and risk his life to save his friends.

The best-selling Isle of Swords adventure continues in Isle of Fire as ancient mariners rise from legend and cut an all-too-real swath of destruction across the Atlantic. The newly formed Wolf Fleet scours the Caribbean, hunting the pirates they once called comrades. And in the pitiless winds of a monstrous hurricane, whole fleets will be blasted apart and devoured.


Also, come visit me at www.enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com to find out about a very cool contest and many incredible announcements!

[Brennan Gash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is great. Enough battles and peril to satisfy the adventure-lover, enough secrets to satisfy the mystery-lover, and enough coolness to satisfy the... well, cool-lover!

All around great. Granted, some might see it as "just another fantasy book", but it most certainly has characteristics that distinguish it from others in its genre.

For instance, there is an unlikely connection between Earth and The Realm... but I won't spoil that for you. :-D Also, there is a good dose of Biblical allegory, enough to inspire and appeal to Christian readers, yet not so much that the books would be termed "preachy" by most non-Christians. It would still be a marvelous book even without these themes.

This is also a welcome addition to the book world because, by almost all standards, it is clean. I have tried many other fantasy tales and been sorely disappointed by inappropriate words and references.

This book is emotional, as well. Beloved characters die, yet even in those times, there is hope...

I will mention that its main downside would be, in my opinion, the fact that there were a grammar issues that I found distracting. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the plot and characters so much that I still am giving this book all five stars.

Super-powered dragons, knights, damsels in distress, spies, sword duels, and wolvins. Find all this and more... if you dare to learn of the Rise of the Wyrm Lord.

WARNING: As a fellow victim, I feel obligated to inform you: should you reach the end of this book, you will find yourself completely incapable of NOT reading the next one. You might as well order the Final Storm right now.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the continuation of The Door Within trilogy, author Wayne Thomas Batson weaves another masterful story about the mirror realm.
This time it is Aidan's new friend Antoinette Reed who is called into the Realm shortly after Aidan meets her. After entering the Door Within, Antoinette is called to be the twelfth knight in a mission to Yewland. What follows is a harrowing journey through the mysterious Blackwood in which they find the hiding place of the Seven Sleepers. However, they finally make it to see the queen of Yewland. They discover that some Paragor knights have just recently left and go after them. Because of a rather unfortunate short-cut, Aelic (Aidan's Glimpse) and Antoinette arrive before the others. Antoinette learns that Paragor's right hand man Kearn, is actually the glimpse of Robby, Aidan's friend. While in our world Antoinette was asked to try to reach him for King Eliam. Antoinette barely stops Aelic from killing Kearn and he escapes. Later that night, Antoinette sneaks out of the castle at Yewland and takes a dragon to Baen-Edge. While there she finds a young Yewland girl who is being sold as a slave and buys her with her sword and sets her free. The continue after Kearn until Antoinette is captured by him. Paragor has released the Wyrm lord to wreak havoc on the free nations of the realms. Will the armies of Alleble hold fast or will they break before the Wyrm lord?

[Alex Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the wyrm lord for my SSR 2nd quarter project. It is a sequel to the first book and it is about Aidan Thomas a teen boy. He is back on Earth after his adventure in Alleble. When Aiden left the Realm, he saw a horrifying sight, his best friend Robby going on Paragor's side. Since Aiden can't go back he wants to find his friend and tell him the truth about King Eliam. Instead they're separated. He then he try's to get a hold of Robby so he can turn him to allegiance with the King. He meets a new friend at school, Antoinette, who is adopted and has a normal life. He then finds out that she is Gwenne’s twin on Earth. Then they start to talk about his adventures. Then Antoinette starts wishing to go to Alleble. She gets the chance when a poem appears on the back of her copy of Alleble’s scroll. Aidan asks her to find Robbie's glimpse in Alleble, and get him to follow the King. She leaves, and Aidan finds out he can to go to Maryland, where Robby lives. Antoinette is assigned to a mission to set in stone the alliance with Yewland, for they have been told of things Alleble has required of them, when in fact there were no such things. She has to find out what to do, either find Robby's glimpse for Aiden or complete the mission.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rise of the Wyrm Lord was immediately more interesting than its predessesor. It snagged my interest and carried me to the end, though it struggled with the same problems The Door Within did.

The allegory was much more satisfying and well-hidden than The Door Within's, but the similarities to Middle-Earth have grown. Yewland is very much like Tolkien's Lothlorien, and though its inhabitants were never called "elves" they most certainly were. Just a well-educated guess, but the author's "Blue Mountain Folk" probably resemble dwarves in everything but appearance. I'd very much like to see Batson take the time to create a storyworld that is completely original, because his talent is very promising.

In The Door Within I liked the Mortiwraiths the best, this time around it's the Seven Sleepers--which are basically enormous demon-wolves. one scene in particular where Kearn and Antionette are swordfighting was very gripping. I'd like to see more of these types of things and less of others.

Rise of the Wyrm Lord had a stronger plot than its predessesor. I'd definitely pick up The Final Storm after reading it.

[Adam]

(Sorta Spoiler alert for those who have not read book 1)

On earth, Aiden Thomas is having trouble getting back into his normal routine. He keeps having scary nightmares about the Betrayer, Paragor. His mom thinks he is crazy, how he talks about his adventures in the Realm. But when he discovers that he is not the only one who believes in the one true King, things get much more exciting!!

Antionette Reed is living a normal life; sports, school, except for one thing. She and her family follow King Eliam, the one true King. When she meets Aiden and figures out that she has been called to enter the Realm of Alleble, she realizes that following King Eliam is no small thing!!

Wayne Thomas Batson is a excellent storyteller, who weaves this amazing tale of valor, hope, and Good and Evil. If you are over the age of 9 and love action, adventure, and a good story I would recommend this book to you!

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
this book is a great book, I'm a reader who likes fantsy and alot of mystery, and if your a reader like me this book is perfect for you.

View all my reviews >>

[Michael O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Book #2, it started out a bit slow for the first half, but the pace of the book picked up a good deal in the second half and made it a pleasurable read. I would have given it five stars, but I think that some of the ending details could have been a bit clearer and final than they were.

In some ways, I think this was even a better read than Book #1.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This definitely wasn't the best in the series, The Final Storm was by far, then the first, but thats just my opinion off a bias towards the second book. Ti just never seems to be the best. No matter what series. But this still was a fabulous book, and I would definitely read it again. In fact, I would go grab any of the books from this series right now if I had the time.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. The series as a whole borrowed a little too much from Narnia, and the writing wasn't that great, but I enjoyed it as a quick, clean read. It had good Christian values and analogies, but was just a little heavy
-handed for my liking.
Not sorry I read it, but also probably not something I'd read a second time.

[99Kylies · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this review ended up being rather negative, despite the fact that overall the book was all right. I was actually really invested in the climax, and enjoyed some of the new characters immensely. I wanted, like with Janette Oak's writing, simply /more/ of what we got - more friendship scenes, more character building, more one on one scenes, more scenes with side characters. A book that leaves you interested enough to want more has its merit.

Now. On to some of the stuff I had issues with.

I am once again startled by the use of skin color in this. I have...questions. Glimpses are described as pale skinned, whiter than the already white protags. In fact, white people look 'dark skinned' next to glimpses. So...Is there no skin-colored ethnicity in the Realm? Are all black people's glimpse-twins pale skinned? If so, that's an...uh...odd choice to make. Also, seems odd that 'twin' is used to describe the human/glimpse stuff. Wouldn't 'clone' or 'doppleganger' or 'soul sharer' be more accurate? Nock and Bolt are twins, Antoinette and Gwanne are not. But Batson doesn't seem to have a good idea of how twins act irl anyways, so whatever. (A flaw in all twin-having media I've found is a weird, almost unnatural idea of how twins 'work'. It's not just Batson's writing.) Also, again, using 'dark-skin' for an insult is just a really....bad...choice. What if the skin was described as translucent instead, since it was already described as that at one point? Lean heavily into that, make black/brown human counterparts/glimpses have translucent skin instead of pale skin, call humans 'solid-skins' and bam, problem solved.

Another...tasteless choice was using the word 'braves' for 'skilled bowmen of the Yewman country'. Like...who let this happen? That term is extremely racially loaded and throwing around racially loaded terms with no regard for if they fit or not leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I think that the racially loaded terms in this book were put in with little to no thought, and aren't malevolent. I don't have a reason to believe any sort of intentional harm, so I don't have a problem with it beyond finding it ill thought out.

I find the whole hinted at romance between Antionette and Aidan, and their respective glimpses, to just be kinda weird considering how little the idea of glimpse/human counterparts are explored beyond 'weird that I have another twin I'll never meet!' But I do appreciate how the romance isn't explicate. Aside from a few comments about physical attraction to each other, focus is in other places, and I am so thankful for that.

Apart from that, meh. There were parts that were good. Again, the climax had me involved and was excellently written. But the overuse of explanation marks and talking tags made stuff like yelling seem less important, as it does. And, idk, again, just because it's a kids book doesn't mean it gets a pass for being poorly written in parts. I do think it's better than the first book, and if Batson improves a little with each book he writes, good for him!! I'm hoping his third one will be even better.

There were...a lot of sword fights in this book. I didn't like it, I'm not here for violence, but if you like that sort of thing, you might like it.

Now, a good thing! Some interesting theological concepts were introduced that did impress me, like scholars disagreeing on when rapture stuff happens. It's a neat way to introduce kids to the concepts. I did appreciate that. If I had kids, this would be on their bookshelves, just because there's some really solid use of theology and Christian ideas in this.

I do think that storywise, the character roster suffers due to needing a group of twelve, but having killed off a bunch of them in the first book, and then immediately dumping a bunch of new characters on the reader at the start of the second book. I'd be way, way more invested in these characters if they didn't feel like a way to show off Batson's various character ideas. There are cool concepts, like Farix, but we just...don't see enough of them because, again, there's twelve, and there's not enough carry over characters from the previous one. So we're subjected to all these character building scenes of new characters instead of more character building scenes of characters we already know a bit about. The books are focused on the plot, and not so much the characters. Character interactions rarely happen unless it's to push the plot along.

The result ends up being we know a little about a lot of characters. If Bolt had been replaced Merewen, and everyone else had remained the same, there wouldn't have been very much difference in the story. Orrr, a couple of the characters introduced in this book could've replaced the characters on the kill count of the previous one. I can't even remember anyone who was killed off in the first book, aside from Bolt and Ascriot, and the grandpa glimpse. It just kinda sucks because I want to love these characters, but I don't have enough time with them.

At the end of the day, despite the weird glimpse stuff and massive, shallow character list, it's a much better book than the first, and I hope the third is even better. I'm looking forward to reading it.

[Kim Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I never really did get into this book -- as evidenced by the fact that it took me 4 months to get through. I went back and read my review of the first book, and it appears I enjoyed it much more than I did this one. In the middle of me reading this, I talked to a fellow teacher and we lamented that the second book of a trilogy nearly always seems to be a bridge book. And, sometimes even if we aren't REALLY enjoying the series, we feel the need to finish it, whether or not we are loving the series. With this series, though, I don't think I would be finishing it if it weren't for the fact that I found out our public library not only has the third book, but has it on audio, which means I can get through it in a more timely manner, and I don't have to spend any money on the book.

The whole "believe/not believe" thing seemed a little more hokey to me in this book than in the last one. I realize this is Christian fiction, but I just couldn't translate believing in Christ with the urgency of believing that another world exists. (To the point that Aiden and his dad would fly to Baltimore to try to get his friend to believe. Does not compute.) I also had a problem in this one with the idea that if a Glimpse died in its realm, its human counterpart would die as well. Does that mean there would be thousands of unexplained deaths on earth when there was a Glimpse battle? Definitely problematic. This may have been addressed more in the first book, but it has been 3 years since I read it and I don't remember.

At any rate, it wasn't terrible, it just isn't one I will ever read again. (And I don't know that I would recommend the series to my friends...)

[Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Door Within series follows Aiden , an adolescent boy, who goes into The Realm where there are mirror versions of people called glimpses. There is a glimpse for every human, but few know of The Realm's existence. The second book in the series, The Rise of The Wyrm lord, is about Aiden's new friend Antoinette who also knows about the realm. Antoinette goes into The Realm to help out with the ongoing war there. Even though she makes an attempt to help her actions may not lead to a useful outcome in the end. Overall I thought it was a decent book. I may have not read the previous book, but I got most of it. When I was looking for books to read on my bookshelf I picked out this one, because I thought the cover was cool and on the thickness of the book. I didn't really feel a wide range of emotions while reading the book. I just couldn't immerse myself in it. The series ,all in all, is a fantasy coming of age story. I would recommend it to anybody from 12 to 16. The whole series was written by Wayne Thomas Batson. The writing wasn't fantastic. There were times where the characters didn't seem they were real people. I kind of liked the choice of not having Aiden play a really important role in the story, even though he is the main character. When or if you read the book will you have a fond opinion of it? I would like to know what you think of it.

[Zanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one gets four stars by merits of nostalgia, sick worldbuilding, and aidan cameos. i miss aidan. i feel like this book was always doomed to be my least favorite of the trilogy because yeah there's no aidan AND there's no gwenne so it's that much harder to get attached to the characters. antoinette is so Not like gwenne and aelic is so stiff compared to aidan that it just feels off-kilter. which isn't to say they're bad characters; it's just not who i'm attached to after tdw. that being said i love so many of the new characters introduced here (lady merewen! trenna! oswyn!!!) and despite not being a big aelic fan there's something about his existence that unhinges me to think about. imagine your grandfather is the greatest warrior the realm has ever known, and your estranged father is a king, and your twin from the mirror realm comes to your world and becomes one of its greatest heroes and your grandfather DIES for him and all you get to do is carry his mantle. hear about his exploits day in and day out. know your friends were his friends first. what the hell! and him still being SO down to kill kearn despite him being aidan's best friend's glimpse...NUTS! i do wish there was more of that and less of you know like everything else. not the strongest of the books but still oh so dear.

[Taylor Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the trilogy, and I like it even better than the first. I love that this book introduces some new characters, each as interesting and varied as the old ones, which still play a prominent role in this story. Also, this book is not nearly as cringey as the first, thankfully, but was still very humorous. Humor can be tricky in books, but this one nailed it! It was really fun to see The Realm through the eyes of a new character, and to see that the world was expanded beyond what was seen in the first book. One aspect I always love is the strong theme of redemption, in this book especially, and giving everyone a second chance. This story also had the message of always obeying the Lord, even when we think our plans are better. I loved that the main character struggled with this, and even when she put her own plan above His and suffered the consequences of it, He still took care of her and worked her actions into something good. I think those themes of obedience and redemption are such beautiful messages every time I reread this book. I highly, highly recommend it!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up until the final chapters, I was going to rate this a 3.5/5. But the final chapters were really good and fast-paced and made me instantly jump into the third and final book. The main issue I have with these books are that they're extremely slow. Not that these books are long by any means, but I feel like the same story could've been told with way less words, and that's not something I'm very fond of in books. I'm not a fan of highly verbose, unnecessary chapters where not much happens in the grand scheme of the book. That being said, I am enthralled by the world that Batson has created - it's highly intriguing and I like hearing about the different Kingdoms. Additionally, the cast of characters are also really interesting and I want to know more about them. I'm excited to wrap up this trilogy, however I feel like this series will be a one-and-done type of trilogy and I probably wont ever reread it. Regardless, at the current moment I am really enjoying it!

[Carina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy really left a good impression on my middle school self. I fell in love with the characters and the story right from the start, and the biblical parallels only increased my love for this series. Rereading these books several years later was difficult because I have come to like different styles of writing. However, the story was just as good as I remembered and I would not hesitate to recommend these books to my fellow bookworms.
The books offer wholesome storylines,free from all mature content, that parents can confidently allow their children to read, and exciting plots that include lots of adventure, castles, knights, dragons, and much, much more.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Teen Fiction
Antoinette reads scrolls that bring her into another world, where The Good King she already loves is battling The Betrayer, who is waking the giant, evil First Dragon.
Fast-paced, high quality writing, characters we care about, solid Biblical principles.
Sword fights, dragons, unicorns, adventure!

Random thing I love: she’s friends with Goths, and others worry they’re ~bad~ but her Goth friends are kind and good! Heck yeah! Goths are awesome!
Random thing that was uncomfortable: Antoinette sees a slave girl being sold. Good news: it's written as evil, and she buys the girl at great cost and immediately frees her.

[Mary Emma Sivils · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a sequel, The Rise of the Wyrm Lord amps up the action and the stakes. Antoinette is a more dynamic protagonist than Aidan, and the dilemma she faces is intriguing.
As a novel, it still lacks the character arcs and motivations I like to see. The writing style still doesn't appeal to me.
But I won't complain too much. I did enjoy this one more than the first. There are aspects to the worldbuilding that are enjoyable, and the cliffhanger ending creates the potential for an interesting final book. I'll go in without high expectations, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Glorianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one much more than the first. While I loved the premise of the books from the beginning, the initial book was a bit choppy to me, and the language of individual characters seemed to waver between modern and old-fashioned. I though that the writing in this one was smoother and the characters more consistent. I also found the transformation Antoinette far more believable than that of Aidan. There was more action and less introspection in this book (possibly because Antoinette is less introspective than Aiden, who seemed to be plagued with internal questioning) and I really liked the character development. I went from being slightly invested to being very anxious to finish the series!