The Deepest Night

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell and Netgalley.) This is book 2 in the 'Sweetest Dark' series, and kicks off where book 1 'The Sweetest Dark' left off. **Warning - some unavoidable spoilers for book 1** After the events of the previous book, Eleanore is coming to terms with Jesse's death, and now must find somewhere where she will be able to stay for the summer, whilst the boarding school is closed. Armand it seems can still hear Jesse though. He now speaks to him from the stars, and guides him. He tells Armand that his brother, who was thought dead, is actually alive, and in a German prison. Converting his father's home to a convalescent facility for army members, Armand creates a job and a place to stay for Eleanor for the summer, whilst they plan how to rescue Aubrey. Can Eleanor learn to control her transformations so that Armand may ride her? Will Armand learn the art of transforming himself? And can they rescue Aubrey and bring him home? This was an interesting story, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first in the series. I felt like this book was a bit of a filler to be honest, something to take us from the first book to the third book, so this was sort of the dull middle bit. This part of the story basically consisted of a lot of procrastinating over where Eleanor would spend the summer, a whole lot of flying by dragon, and a rescue operation. The pace felt a little slow to me, and there just wasn't the magic and excitement that the first book had, there also wasn't the romance. To be honest, I didn't really care about where Eleanor would spend the summer. I really didn't see why there was any argument at all really. Never mind the fact that Armand is in love with her and lives in a big mansion, why would she go back to an orphanage for the summer when Jesse left her so much gold that she could easily spend on somewhere to live (and still have a fortune left over)? The revelation that Armand's brother Aubrey was alive was fairly surprising, but I just couldn't feel excited for the rescue mission, it all just felt a bit stale, and really lacked something for me. I liked that Jesse was still communicating with the Drakon, but for some reason Eleanor wasn't able to hear him, which was also a bit disappointing. The romance between Eleanor and Armand was sorely lacking until right at the very end, and again just didn't excite me. The ending was okay, and we were left with a promise of more trials to come for the Drakons, I seriously hope that the next book is more like the first and less like this one though, as this just didn't do it for me. Overall; an okay second instalment, but where has the magic and romance gone? 6.5 out of 10.show more