Is it better then the first?Marginally. Maybe.Will I be reading the rest of the series?Let me put it this way - the physical copy is already on it's way to Goodwill and while I'm not going to wipe it's existence off my computer and could foresee one day flipping through it/them again if bored, it's not something I want to waste already strained shelving space over. Which is too bad. The premise behind the series is a really intriguing one, one that in the right hands would have been totally up my alley for a fun read. But instead... it frankly feels like Kerr lost interest in the whole project but because she had already sold the series AND cashed the check she was just gritting her teeth and doing what was required to hit agreed upon word counts. It makes me wish authors could sell their worlds when they just can't muster up the enthusiasm to continue on themselves. Build the world, set the framework, and then hand it over to someone who will love and make something beautiful out of it, instead of just treating the whole thing like a gray joyless grind to crank out a finish project. Good ideas, great concept, seriously uninspired middle of the road to the point of nonentity finish. Which is why, even though it's possibly a bit better then the first book, I'm taking it down a star. Unless she had a gun to her head demanding she continue this story, I don't understand why a talented writer didn't just scrap this entirely, or at least put the work down, slide it into a drawer for a year or three until the passion came back.Writing is what makes me me. It's something that defines who I am, even if I never personally sell a book and only get the odd bit of ghostwork, editing, or articles published. Even if all THAT never happens again, I write because when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night, the first thing that makes me - ME - is the need to live in a world of words. It's a skill I spend more and more time trying to perfect and the things I write are my children, just as much as if they were physically alive and a part of me. So this kind of insipid 'meh' writing makes me crazy, and is worse in a lot of ways then just outright terrible writing. Write or don't. But don't half ass it. And this series feels like a massively half-assed shrug of an attempt. I'm definitely enjoying this series and looking forward to the next book. The acronyms used by Nola's agency are not as irritating in this second book of the series as they don't seem to be used as much, or maybe I'm just not noticing them as much. I'm still really bothered by Nola's eating disorder... I just don't see any reason for her to have an eating disorder, it simply doesn't add anything to the story. There's no explanation for it at all, it's just THERE. She's also VERY defensive and angry when Ari deduces certain things about her family. I can understand the defensiveness... but the anger is strange.Other than these nitpicky things, I thought this was a great story and fairly well written.
What do You think about Water To Burn (2011)?
Haha! I was right. All the annoying bits are smoothed out and the second book was wonderful.
—calibre
I enjoy this series and look forward to number three
—tiffany
