Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2)

Synopsis

Laterre is on the brink of war. The Third Estate are rioting against the injustices of a corrupt system. The Patriarche, reeling from the murder of his only heir, makes brutal attempts to quash the unrest, while a new militant faction launches a series of deadly attacks.
And three outlaws find themselves pulled into the fray . . . 

Marcellus is now a traitor to his planet, willing to do anything to stop his grandfather from seizing control of Laterre even if it means joining the Vangarde, a rebel group back from the dead.

Chatine is a prisoner on Bastille. Desperate to survive the harsh conditions of the moon, she becomes embroiled in the Vangarde's dangerous attempt to free their infamous leader.

Alouette is a fugitive who has been lied to her entire life. Searching for the truth about her mysterious past, she soon finds herself hunted by the Regime for reasons she's only beginning to understand.

But when Laterre is threatened by the emergence of a deadly new weapon, these three renegades must risk everything, traveling to the far reaches of the System Divine and into the white-hot center of a planet ready to ignite.

Loved

• The fast pace! I've come to expect with sequels some slowness so the plot can get thicker and the characters more developed. Sometimes it can drag until the very end. But this was fast-paced with adrenaline and intensity not letting me turn those pages fast enough. 

• New characters! We got a whole slew of new characters in the book and they are all awesome. Where have Gabriel, Cerise, and Etienne been this whole time? I love them all- especially Etienne. He is witty and bold, but forgiving and empathetic and I'm really shipping him and Chatine! I also love Cerise and Gabriel's brains, guts and constant banter :) 

• Loved the plot twists- especially at the very end! I loved thinking back to how all the small details from the very beginning of book one came fell into place and finally made sense. 

• I loved the crew feel. How can you have a spaceship without a solid crew? Luke Skywalker wouldn't have made it far across the Galaxy without Han Solo and Chewy. This crew had such a fun dynamic- all very smart, brave, and passionate about stopping the Regime. But also they all each had their individual quirks, flaws, strengths, moments of weakness, and bonds to each other. I loved their constant banter and teasing, but also their deeper individual conversations with each other.

•  The intensity- this book was much more intense than book one. In one scene I seriously jumped, just as real as I jump every time the little ghost girl in Sixth Sense reaches out and grabs the boy's ankle-anyone know what I'm talking about?? The odds were high, time running out, threat of the whole planet being killed looming over them, and constant disasters that seemed impossible to overcome had me completely hooked and my heart pounding from page one.

Didn't Love

• The only thing I didn't like about this book was the confusing romances. I won't spoil anything, but there also isn't anything to spoil because nothing happens with the romances. Okay that's not true- there is one romance forming that is promising and makes sense. But all the other characters seem to have no idea what they're feeling or if they're in love with one or two people? I was frustrated because the romances that make sense in Les Mis did not play out here. There were some developing feelings, but they never led anywhere and ended up being convoluted and forgotten. Which is okay I guess because they were busy making sure the planet didn't get destroyed. So I guess we can wait to find out about the romances after the giant planet disaster is over ;)

• *Since writing this review I have read Les Mis, and this story does NOT follow the original book at all. So I find it helpful to think of this series as something separate from Les Mis in order to avoid comparing them, which is impossible.*

Content

• Language:
• Lots of swearing by the "sols" (the suns in this world), such as "sol-damn" or "sol-forsaken."

• Sexual content: 
• There is sadly NO KISSING :(
• There is mention of dresses fitting tightly or being "slinky."

• Violence:
• There is a technology developed in this book that rewires the brain to become its most aggressive. This turns normal people into bloodthirsty monsters, and it's distrurbing.
• The first scene we see this shows two men fighting and one ends up killing the other with his hands. There is a lot of blood, tendons ripping, bones crunching, etc. It's enough to make poor Marcellus puke in a flower pot.
• At the end of the book there is a scene where this technology is used on a whole crowd and there are many descriptions of normal people becoming feral and aggressive. Many mentions of blood, ripping people apart, bashing heads with rocks, throwing people down staircases, etc. Mentions of children being harmed and dying.
• Lots of shooting with weapons that put all sorts of shrapnel in your body and basically tear all your organs. A few characters are shot with these weapons. One suffers from his wound and the wound is described. Another character dies and mentions his head covered in blood and slumping.
• Mentions of raids where the Ministeré scattered, kidnapped, and killed innocent people.
• A few physical fights- punching, hitting, etc.
• Alouette uses the Tranquile Form to take down some Ministeré officers. (A series of yoga-like moves that when done quickly, become punches and kicks).

 Overall Thoughts

This was such an awesome sequel. Sequels worry me sometimes because they can be slow and depressing because the enemy always gets stronger and the protaganists always have some major setback. These protaganists had major setbacks, but also some hopeful victories. The best part of this sequel for me was meeting vibrant new characters full of sass and personality. They added so much to the story and made the perfect crew to work together. It was very fast-paced with a good amount of action and excitement, but also some character development with deep conversations between characters. There was a jaw-dropping plot twist at the end that I'm still excited about! Overall such a fun read and the perfect sequel for this series. I can't wait for book three and I highly recommend this series, even if you haven't read Les Mis! In fact, not having read Les Mis may help you enjoy it even more since the plot in this sequel varies completely from that of the original classic.