I picked this book up because I'd loved the idea of the first book in the duology, Juliet Immortal, and even though I had some reservations about the actual execution of the book I wanted to see what the author did with the sequel.
Like Juliet Immortal, this was an okay book. And like Juliet Immortal, this one left me feeling like some vital facts were being withheld from me. I'm now starting to think that this is just the author's style of writing, so I don't think I'll be reading anything else of hers (although there's nothing inherently wrong or offensive about it, so I'm sure other readers may really warm to her style).
My main bugbear with this one was the massive, crashing instalove-attraction between Romeo and Ariel. It made me die inside a little bit, I've gotta say. One of the tropes I love most is two friends who've known each other forever falling in love (especially if there's Some Kind Of Misunderstanding, or possibly An Important Reason They Can't Be Together) and instalove is the literal opposite of this.
Romeo was pretty annoying in this book: he fancies himself in love with Ariel, but really all he wants to do is bone her. That's not love, dude. It's exactly how he acts in Romeo and Juliet and I thought he was a towering twat in that as well.
It's not that I'd say give this duology a swerve - I'm sure lots of readers will like it - it's more that I'd say, go into it with your eyes open. Manage your expectations. My expectations were, I think, a bit too high and the reality didn't quite measure up.
3 stars