Court (2). Satisfying follow on, I look forward to book 3. This kept up the pace and expanded further on the setup in Power and Majesty. Yay! ( )

A secret war is being fought every nox between the Creature Court and the sky. The day folk have no idea it's happening, but if the Creature Court isn't careful, then normal people die. If the Creature Court loses the battle, then the whole city will be destroyed.

Velody is struggling to keep the two aspects of her life separate: by day she makes dresses and by night she leads the Creature Court in the battle against the sky. It's bad enough that most of the Creature Court would sooner tear each other apart than help each other. Now the sky is stepping up it's assault on the city, making it harder for Velody to keep her two worlds separate. It isn't long before the two worlds start bleeding together.

Dresses, violence, flowers, blood and sex. What more do you want?

This book doesn't beat around the bush with the action and the reader is quickly launched into the midst of the story. Unlike the first book, there wasn't a need for setting up the world or backstory quite so much, so I felt it had good consistent pacing, whereas book 1, Power and Majesty, was a little slow at the start.

Two things really stood out for me with this book. The first was the juxtaposition of the day world with the events of the night (or nox as it is referred to). During the day we see Velody and her two friends making dresses and garlands and the Duchessa presiding over the never-ending festivals of the day world. During the nox, Velody and her Creature Court fight the sky which is trying to swallow up the city. The days are ordinary (or at least, as ordinary as days get in fantasy books) and the nox are full of violence, sex and blood, often simultaneously. The writing switches between the two flawlessly, even when the two worlds start to collide.

The other stand-out excellent aspect of the book was how unflinchingly the author doled out cruelty to her characters. Building on the troubled pasts established in book one, the Shattered City takes it to the next level by pushing all the characters harder and further and mercilessly inflicting emotional pain on them. It was very well done.

Overall, this was an excellent read and I highly recommending to anyone who didn't hate the first book. And if you haven't read the first book, what are you waiting for? ( )