3 out of 4 stars
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Shadow of the Coalition is a sci-fi romance and the second in the Two Towers series.
Kayla is not interested in pursuing her newfound celebrity status in the Towers, and has returned to the camps to once again scavenge for relics. Faced between the choice of Alec, with whom she unwittingly created a partnership energy bond, and the trader Carl, Kayla has followed her heart back to Carl's base. The bond with Alec is still undeniably there, but she knows that if she goes near him again, she might not be able to resist him this time. When unidentified surveillance planes are spotted over one of the camps, Kayla and Carl are summoned to the Towers to share their records, where Kayla's bond will be tested once again. A new trouble, however, has arisen in the form of the Coalition, a little known faction that seems to have its own agenda in waging a war against the Inner Circle of the Towers. The Coalition also seem a little too interested in Kayla. Doesn't she have enough to work through between the two men in her life and now this?
I was fortunate enough to have already read the first book in the series, so had a clear idea of the background story. The author did do a good job, however, in bringing elements from the first story to the second to avoid confusion. The second book was predominantly more a romance book than the sci-fi of the original, but I enjoyed the introduction of the new powers that people were discovering, alongside the elemental powers that had previously been used. New characters made a welcome addition and hopefully the third book can flesh them out even more. The writing is very comfortable to read, with one or two minor punctuation errors.
On a different note, I did find the story itself lacking in substance. There was a basic plotline from A-B, but I felt the whole idea fell short before actually reaching B. There seemed to be a lot of scenes that were repeated and just written in different ways. To me the only character that really has depth is Kayla, and yet (even with the first book) I find her emotions too extreme. She is meant to be this hard as nails character that has no problem swearing and punching people, but yet she is so fragile in places that people have to tiptoe around her or she is liable to pass out.
The book was still very entertaining and I'm glad I got to find out what happened in the story after book one. The ending is left open enough for a lead into another book. There is swearing, violence and intimate scenes, so I would definitely only recommend the book for mature young adults and up. A good but not gripping read, so I rate Shadow of the Coalition, 3 out of 4 stars.
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Shadow of the Coalition
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The first book sounds very promising and I am genuinely interested in what would happen in the second book. Great job on the review.
