“Not everyone wants to see the world saved . . .
Time is running out. Cities are being engulfed in the Mist and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Theo believes he has found a way to stop mankind from Turning, but he doesn’t know how to alter Cass’s unique blood into a cure. Or if it can even be done.
Meanwhile, Cass struggles with the idea that she is possibly the savior of the world—a world she is not sure is worth saving.
From the Winchester manse to the steel city of Decadenn, there is something more chasing Cass than the House of Lords or the masked man who can walk in the Mist. Soon she must decide if she will use her blood to save mankind or let those who only care about themselves perish.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Skyworld” duology. Review of Book #1, Here!
Spiritual Content- There is a God in the story called “Elaeros”, who is called the “God of air” (it’s never said if there’s any other god); Prayers & Thanking Elaeros; Talks about Elaeros & something being a gift to Cass from Him; A conversation between Cass & Theo about when Elaeros will make what is broken whole again (Theo isn’t sure what is means or when that would be); When she has a fever, Cass wonders if she is between the “two planes of death” and wonders if the actions of her life warrant Heaven or Hell; Cass wonders about Elaeros and if others are kind because of Elaeros, wanting to be like that herself *Spoiler* she prays asking Him to use her *End of Spoiler*; When someone says the “universe” wanted someone to survive, Theo replies that it could be Elaeros’ doing; Mentions of a church, church going, & a song (Cass is fascinated by the stained glass windows and the building); A few mentions of prayers & praying; A few mentions of a miracle; A mention of someone saying that don’t believe in Elaeros but was praying for someone else; A mention of blessings;
*Note: Cass struggles with the thought of letting the Mist take over and be retribution against selfish people (particular when she hears people complaining and only caring for themselves, *Spoiler* but she realizes that the gift of life she’s been given (her blood) is meant to be shared with others *End of Spoiler*); A few mentions of some workers thinking there’s a ghost and that the factory is haunted; A couple mentions of a Greek Mythology queen; A mention of Cass’s blood possibly being the salvation for humanity; A mention of not being superstitious.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘hurt like gales’, an ‘oh my word’, four ‘what the—‘, four forms of ‘who/how/what/why in the Mist’, four forms of ‘what/how in the gales’, and seven ‘gales’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm; Seeing someone die & their body (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, Being attacked/hit, Self-defense, Being shot, Being choked, Pain, Blood/Bleeding, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); Those who have breathed in the Mist (deathly spores that are in the air) are called a Turned and are similar to zombies (the person has died and the body left behind is a mode of transportation for the spores); Seeing Turned, fighting them, shooting them with a fire gun, & recalling someone turning into one (including the zombie-like appearance, barely-above-not-detailed); Acting like a Turned (up to semi-detailed); Cass thinks that she wouldn’t wish plummeting to their death on anyone; Many mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of Purges (when fires are set in villages to keep people inside the Mist and killing off any Turned) & deaths; Mentions of guns/weapons & firing them at the Turned (which will burn the body, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths & deaths made to look like an accident (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fires, deaths, & a man’s terrible burns (barely-above-not-detailed to semi-detailed); Mentions of wars; Mentions of someone being shot, fights, & fighting (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of thieves & stealing; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; Mentions of prejudice from the higher class to the lower class & their comments towards them; A few mentions of the possibility of being killed; A few mentions of pushing people in the Mist (a couple leader figures suggest this for a certain area because the people there “only take up useful space and resources”); A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of starvation; A couple mentions of riots & violence; A couple mentions of tattoos; A mention of suicide; A mention of someone threating to have others Purged (killed); A mention of someone being held at knife-point; A mention of a threat; A mention of a pipe.
Sexual Content- Two head/forehead kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss, and a semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Recalling kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Heat, Shivers, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of Cass saying that as a young woman on the streets “there was one type of work I swore I would never do” and when it came down to that or stealing, she picked the lesser evil; A mention of Cass thinking that long hair attracts unwanted attention; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A mention of a young woman’s curves in a dress.
-Cass
-Theo Winchester
P.O.V. switches between them
Steampunk/Dystopian Setting
250 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
All right, everyone, hold on to your hats.
This not-a-big-fantasy fan has something to say:
I enjoyed that.
It was suspenseful, exciting, and also had it’s sweet moments. The faith content continued on from the first book and the plan against the corrupt leaders in charge continued as well.
I have to note how much I loved that Cass & Theo talked through things. They’re from very different worlds and life experiences, but they leaned on each other and talked. They were great together, a healthy relationship.
I thought it was really interesting to see a “chosen one” (trope) have that character not be sure if she really wants to help, because she’s seen the worst in humanity. I thought it was really realistic because yes, she can possibly save those she cares about, but by doing that she’ll have to save those that aren’t doing what they should be doing (ie. the government figures). It was interesting to see that moral dilemma within this story.
I think my only “compliant” would be that this book felt so short. I mean, I did devour it within 2.5 hours, but it was still so short! Particularly the ending pages, I would have loved to see more and then it might not feel so rushed to me. (I also would have preferred less “made-up cussing”.)
Overall opinion on this duology? I’m impressed. Definitely a series you’ll want to read back-to-back because of cliff-hangers and information. (Though, side note: I didn’t end up rereading the first book before I started this sequel and was able to follow along quite well—the author didn’t assume that you remembered every single event in the first book nor did she dump information from the prior book either. Hats off to the author for that!) I’ll be checking out more of Morgan L. Busse’s books because I overall enjoyed this duology. It was different and entertaining, maybe not for everyone, but it was very interesting.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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