The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas

Summary from Goodreads:

After spending the summer away from each other, Titus and Iolanthe (still disguised as Archer Fairfax) are eager to return to Eton College to resume their training to fight the Bane. Although no longer bound to Titus by a blood oath, Iolanthe is more committed than ever to fulfilling her destiny—especially with the agents of Atlantis quickly closing in.

Soon after arriving at school, though, Titus makes a shocking discovery, one that makes him question everything he previously believed about their mission. Faced with this devastating realization, Iolanthe is forced to come to terms with her new role, while Titus must choose between following his mother's prophecies—and forging a divergent path to an unknowable future.

Review:

I’ve really been enjoying this series. I flew through the first book. I then quickly ordered books 2 and 3. I love the classic fantasy feel to these stories. I also love the characters and have the ultimate ship.

That being said, I was expecting a tiny bit more in this sequel. I was expecting the same levels of suspense and intrigue. And while, the intrigue was there –I literally had to know what on earth was happening (more later)– the suspense was kind of lacking for me. I felt a little cheated too.

Basically, the book switches back and forth between two different times. In one time, the main characters are lost in the middle of the desert with no memories of who they are. And then the other time/chapters are devoted to the characters in the year leading up to their time in the desert. At first, I didn’t like this because the intrigue was too much. How did they lose their memories? Why couldn’t they at least remember each other?

But, then I got seriously into it. I kind of loved watching my ship fall in love all over again. I love that the characters were still themselves, minus crucial memories. I also kind of liked trying to figure out how it all happened, as I read the chapters leading up to it. I grew into the rhythm of it all, and honestly, the author had mad skills keeping me this interested in this plot device that literally lasted the whole book.

However, I was hoping for a better explanation to it all. I mean the entire book was in this format. Shouldn’t the explanation be deserving of a whole book? I guessed a major part of it because, well, as soon as someone is referred to as a memory master, how can you not connect the dots to the characters losing their memories? But still, I wanted a little more there.

I guess I wanted a little more at the end, period. It had an insane cliffhanger that made me even happier to own the final installment already. But, I guess, a lot felt kind of rushed at the end. The character development and the details of the school and the Bane and so many things are seriously hashed out. But, the answers I’d wanted for the whole book were kind of rushed. It’s like the author had a deadline and couldn’t spend as much time on the end as she did the beginning.

All in all though, I still really enjoyed this. The characters, the romance, the magic, and the mystery were spot on. I just needed a tiny bit more explanation, and justification for things. Who knows, maybe this comes in the last book. I give this one an 8/10.