Biblio 411: Endless Knight (Arcana Chronicles #2) by Kresley Cole

Oh my goodness! I just … this book … wow! Okay, I don’t know where to go with this one. I finished Endless Knight on Tuesday, but haven’t been able to bring myself to write a review because, well, I’m still trying to take it all in!

So, I reviewed Poison Princess in this post.

At the end of Poison Princess we realize that Evie is the Empress in the Major Arcana and they’re in a game till death. The tarot cards records their history. Endless Knight pretty much picks up where Poison Princess ends. Evie and Jackson has come to a common ground in this one and finally realize they love each other. A few days later, Death forces his hand and captures Evie, leaving their alliance to suffer through a crumbling mountain. Things get interesting during Evie’s time in Death’s lair. She finds out more about the games and we finally, finally see why Death is so fixated on her.

Cole does a really great job carrying the story out. Everything seems just right, almost like hitting all the right points at the right time. How the characters are introduced, how the alliances are formed, and then broken. I don’t know. It just flows. It doesn’t get to boring for me, which I appreciate. Sometimes, YA stories can drag on a bit, but Endless Knight seems to play out well.

But that cliffhanger! Gah! This is why I’m so torn about starting a series when book one just comes out. Those pesky cliffhangers leave me hanging until a year or sometimes even two years later! And most times, I can’t stand it. Like now. Book 3, Dead of Winter is set to release Jan. 6th, 2015 and it already feels like it’s so far away! I’m so thankful that it’s only a few weeks away, but what if there are more books?! Ack!

Okay, back on track InfoJunkie!

So, aside from the really awesome plot line, what also intrigues me is the fact that Cole hasn’t revealed all Arcana yet. There are still players in the game and we have yet to see who pops up and who doesn’t, which is sorta like a mystery, which I always dig. Also, there’s the fact that since these players are constantly playing, as in they are reincarnated for the next games, there’s a history that’s deeply rooted among all the players that I’m so interested in seeing. Each person’s history is tied t the card they represent which is awesome! In addition to that, usually when a card reading takes place, there are several ways to interpret it depending on the who you’re reading for so we don’t really know what meaning is being played in the character just yet. There are so many ways this plot can play out … I’m stoked!

So, we have several layers of story. We have the characters themselves and the lives they lived Before Flash and After Flash. We have the card the represent. We have the role in the game. And then we have the game itself. Talk about WOW!

I hope I’m making this more complex than it really is, because if it really is this complex I really hope Cole ties this all together with a solid ending.

And, just because I feel it needs to be said, Cole continues to push the borders of YA-Adult in this book so … just saying. Keep in mind that it is a bit edgy.

January can’t come soon enough … in the book world, that is.

(Edited to add:)

Favorite Scene:
When Death just got stabbed by Evie claws and confesses everything.

Okay, and I have to add this one, because I’ve been asking myself that same question as soon as I started reading this series:

Evie: “I just wanted to live on my farm and mind my own business. [Death] was the one who terrorized me, telling me he’d drink my blood from his sword and such. How was I supposed to react?”
Lark: “Have you asked yourself why he’d do that?”
Evie: “Oh, I have. And I’ve asked Matthew. And even Death himself! Do you know?”
Lark: “If I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Favorite Character;
Still Matthew and Death.