Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Source: Publisher
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All will be revealed for fans who have breathlessly awaited the sizzling sequel to Juliet Immortal. This time Romeo takes center stage and gets one chance, and one chance only, to redeem himself.
Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.
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CATCHALL
Pretty much everyone knows that I absolutely hated Juliet Immortal. Absolutely hated it. I did not like it in any way, shape or form in any freaking way whatsoever. But becuse I liked Romeo, I decided to pick up this book anyway. While it wasn't stellar, I'm extremely glad that I did. I genuinely enjoyed this one and while I still didn't love it, it was entertaining and I actually found that I was able to like the characters. It was fun although at times frustrating, and overall perfectly readable.
THE HEROINE
ROMEO
I adore Romeo. He's definitely a bad boy, but I like him. It's really, really interesting to get into his head. He's conflicted about so many things, and it takes him a long time to get his priorities straight and to decide what he wants to do. But when he does, he doesn't back down from it. He makes his choices and he sticks with them, and he's strong. Also, very loyal.
THE HEROINE
ARIEL
I wasn't sure how I felt about Ariel for a long time, but I ended up liking her. She has some serious issues, and like Juliet, she could be incredibly irritating. Unlike Juliet, she knew how to be strong without having a boyfriend. Ariel's past isn't easy for her to live with, either. And yet somehow I think that she doesn't use that as a crutch.
THE LOST LOVE
JULIET
Juliet actually does have some part in this novel, and she's still as annoying and irritating as ever. I didn't like her before and I still don't like her now. I really don't have anything more to say.
THE PLOT
The plot. Ah, yes.
I mean, it could have been so much better than it was. It had so much potential! Really! I actually was really interested in it, and there was some intensity that always made me want to know what was going to happen next. I mean, really. It was awesome.
Romeo and Ariel's story is heartbreaking. There are many twists and turns in the plot so that I was never sure where it was going to head next. Or anything of what was next. I couldn't ever be sure of the future because it constantly kept me on the edge of my seat, guessing.
The main problem with the book is that, like Juliet Immortal, it has about a thousand plot holes.
I don't want to go into this since it'll spoil everything, but really? Stuff just happens without any explanation and I am not cool with accepting that. There are so many random aspects that don't make any sense at all and are never explained.
I don't understand this. It's one thing to mess up once, but totally a whole other story to mess up a second time in the exact same way.
I really wish there weren't so many plot holes. Because if there weren't, I really could have loved this book. Honestly. Romeo and Ariel are seriously awesome, and while their romance isn't perfect, they click.
But there are a ton of plot holes.
THE ROMANCE
The romance in this book is still a bit instalovey, but it's not the pure instalove that i hated so much in Juliet Immortal. It still is something like that, but the difference is that this time there's not only more chemistry, there's more development. While Ariel and Romeo do fall in love awfully quickly, their romance suffers some serious problems that seem much more realistic than what occurred in the previous book between Juliet and Ben. Also, this romance rings much more true and is worth swooning for.
THE WRITING
Stacey's writing is pretty much the same as it was in Juliet Immortal. The thing that makes it much better is that instead of Juliet being the main narrator, Ariel and Romeo both rotate between narrations, and I like their voices. They're very aching and full of emotion, and they actually really ring true with me. It all feels very painful and yet hopeful at once.
THE ENDING
The ending I actually thought was…okay. Not the best. I still don't like the same things I disliked in Juliet Immortal, and there were some major plot holes that completely threw me off. But I am glad that Romeo and Ariel were given a happy ending. Without going into too much detail, there's a random supernatural aspect that really isn't explained at all and unfortunately messed this up for me.
WRAPUP
Though this book was far from perfect and had myriad problems, I still really liked it. It was a quick and fun read that kept me hooked. Romeo and Ariel were a joy to hang out with. Compared to Juliet Immortal, I'm still not sure I could recommend this one, but if you do want to read it, there's no need to read Juliet Immortal first. I might read some of Stacey's work in the future, even. Overall, yes, this really was a positive experience for me.
FINE.
***FINAL RATING: 2.55 STARS***
