ARC Review: “The Phoenix Shadow” (Arcadian Wars #2) by M.H. Soars

“The Pheonix Shadow” (Arcadian Wars #2) by M.H. Soars (July 28, 2015)

Genre: YA, Sci-fi, Fiction, Romance, Paranormal

Page Length: 258 pages (electronic ARC copy)

Synopsis:

When the walls of lies begin closing in, who do you trust?

There is nothing worse than failure, especially one that results in your school being attacked by a ruthless enemy. Still reeling from the aftermath of the previous night, Sam and her cousins must deal with another crisis: Alexia has run away.

To top it off, there are new players in town. The young Arcadians will be forced to work closely with the prestigious Nox Elite. But they will soon find out that nursing a bruised ego is nothing compared to fighting a faceless enemy, battling personal demons, and dealing with revelations that will forever change their lives. (description from Goodreads)

Review:

The Pheonix Shadow is another thrilling addition to the Arcadian Wars series. Whereas the most recent book (the prequel) explains the back story, book number two starts to pull everything together. A lot of readers questions are answered and most of the truth and many of the backstories of the main characters are revealed. We also get to see some of the secrets the Arcadian government has been keeping become exposed.

The novel sets itself at a much faster pace than the other books in the series, but all of the new information is carefully explained so that it’s not overwhelming. There were a lot of jaw-dropping moments for me and as I was reading along I was shouting out exclamations like “Wait, can this be?!” and “Who did what?!”. It had me on the edge of my seat.

I really liked the addition of new characters (the more elite Arcadians) and it gave the shifting point-of-views a brand new perspective. It kept me interested and let me see the story’s events from a fresh set of eyes. The novel was just as action-packed like the other books in the series, and I absolutely loved the epic chase scenes where they used their powers to fight. I imagined it to be something like out of a Hollywood movie.

The romance aspect of the story is definitely amped up in this book. While it was nice to see current relationships such Alexia & Ethan, who by far are my favorite couple of the series, develop even further, it was also good to see new relationships bloom. Love is in the air!

Final Verdict:

The book ends at a huge cliffhanger so I’m excited to see how the main characters will get to the bottom of what’s going on and hopefully stop the myserians from destroying what they love!