Endless Knight

Title: Endless Knight (The Arcana Chronicles #2)

Author: Kresley Cole

Genre: YA/Dystopia

Release Date: October 1, 2013

My Rating:
♥♥♥♥♥

In the second book of the Arcana Chronicles Evie has now fully come into her powers as the tarot Empress.  And Jackson was there to see it all. In the aftermath of killing Arthur, the tarot Alchemist, Evie realizes that a war is brewing between the other teens that, following the apocalypse, have been given powers and its kill or be killed.

 Things get even more complicated when Evie meets Death, the mysterious, sexy Endless Knight.  Somehow the Empress and Death share a romantic history - one that Evie can't remember, but Death can't forget.  She is drawn to the Endless Knight, but is in love with Jack.  Determined to discover why she's been granted these powers, Evie struggles to accept her place in a prophecy that will either save the world, or completely destroy it.

~ Goodreads

Oh....wow.  I loved Poison Princess, but I never thought the sequel would top it of like Endless Knight did.  Endless Knight is so earth-shatteringly fantastic!  I'm still dazed from the intensity.  This is the type of book that will make you squeal with excitement, whimper with empathy, and cry, cry, cry.

Taking off right where Poison Princess ended, Evie is more unsure than ever about her alliances, her relationship with Jack, and her trust in her own abilities.  The game Evie, Matthew, Finn, Selena, and the other Arcana are playing is deadly, and it doesn't help that Death is now in Evie's mind, torturing her with destructive images of how he plans to kill her.  But does Death really loathe Evie as much as he shows, or is he trying to hide his true feelings from her.  As Evie becomes closer to the man she has sworn to hate, her relationship with Jack is strained.  Forced to face bagmen, savage militia, bloodthirsty cannibals, and her crumbling liaisons, will she make it out alive?  Or will it be an endless night?

Endless Knight literally blew my socks off.  I was not expecting this gut-wrenching thrill ride, but that's exactly what I got.  And I loved every single minute of it.

The Writing:
Cole is an absolute genius who knows exactly what to say in times of peril, romance, and deafening action.  She is seriously one of my favorite authors just because she has the skill to draw the reader in and let them gasp in air only during short breaks.
I loved Evie's narration!  She did seem a bit older than a 16 year old girl at times, but I guess the apocalypse'll do that to you.  Evie's sweet, spunky, audacious, fierce, everything that makes up a totally bad-ass heroine.

The Plot:
I love the fact that the series is based around tarot cards!  It's actually spurred me on to work with my own deck at home (lol).  But seriously, the whole apocalyptic, X-Men teenagers theme is pretty cool, especially during the vivid fight scenes.
Death and Evie's story is unraveled is Endless Knight, and there are so many shocking secrets that completely took me by surprise!  There is one in particular that had me squealing and my eyes bulging, mostly from happiness and some shock!  There's just so much mystery surrounding Death; I couldn't get over it!

Death:
I just had to do a section on Death!  He's the character that you both love and hate.  Well, in my case I love him!  His story is so horribly heartbreaking and you get a chance to see through his tough exterior and into the lonely man he really is.  He's a bit cold in the beginning, but you'll want to cozy up to him in the end.  I know I did!  As you all probably know, there's a love triangle that becomes much more noticeable on Endless Knight.  It IS one of the best love triangles in 2013 YA, in my opinion.  So, so good.  I am definitely on Team Death!!  Wow, that sounds frightening...

Overall, I'm giving Endless Knight a 5/5 because it totally rocked my world and left me salivating for the third book.