Firstly, a huge thank you Rhiannon Paille for giving me an ARC of this, it's not out until May 7th 2013 so I'm very grateful for getting first dibs! She's got some kick ass artwork in the works for the book so make sure you check out her website and Facebook for some sneak peaks... But I digress, here goes the review.
Honestly, (and it pains me to say it) I didn't love this book anywhere near as much as I loved Surrender (Book 1). I'm a sucker for a romance and Surrender offered that in bucket loads through Krishani and Kaleil, but I really felt the lack of her presence in Justice. With her gone, however, you do get a really strong idea of Krishani's grief which only solidifies some of the decisions he makes and the journey he takes.
I can't say that it made me love him any more though. I did find that towards the end of the book, and without Kaleil, I got a bit tired of Krishani's lack of self preservation - but Paille does well with the introduction of various other characters to take the limelight off of him in the right places so his suicidal-ness doesn't become too irritating.
On the upside, Paille's writing style, as always, is fantastic. She keeps the pace going by taking us out of Avristar and in to The Lands of Men which offers up a whole new world of descriptive genius. We hear a lot more about the Valtanyana and get more of a feel for their freakishness which I think was needed.
I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that the addition of a few more Flames was interesting, too. They're not what you expect, certainly nothing like Kaleil, so for me, that gave them a whole new dimension and definitely explains the weapon/destruction side to them.
Character-wise, you see a different side to Pux and also a lot more of the 3 witch sisters which surprised me (in a good way). I'm still not sure I quite know what their intentions are so I'm hoping we see more of them in the next book (there better be a next book).
Overall I think the storyline holds itself well, there are plenty of mini stories from the different characters that add some context of what exactly is going on in Avristar/Lands of Men world and Krishani's journey and battle with his parable as the Ferryman definitely keeps you wanting to see how he ends up.
Like I say, I did miss Kaleil but if you've read Surrender (which you should) then you'll need to read Justice to get the answers to some pretty big questions! I'm gonna give it a 3.5/5, not as strong as Surrender but definitely worth a read, if for no other reason than to experience the amazing world that Paille is a pro at creating.
Overall I think the storyline holds itself well, there are plenty of mini stories from the different characters that add some context of what exactly is going on in Avristar/Lands of Men world and Krishani's journey and battle with his parable as the Ferryman definitely keeps you wanting to see how he ends up.
Like I say, I did miss Kaleil but if you've read Surrender (which you should) then you'll need to read Justice to get the answers to some pretty big questions! I'm gonna give it a 3.5/5, not as strong as Surrender but definitely worth a read, if for no other reason than to experience the amazing world that Paille is a pro at creating.
