Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole
Buy Endless Knight by Kresley Cole at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: A book with some great set pieces, including a grisly fight to escape from a canibal's lair, but the majority of it hinges on a choice between two boys, which really takes the nail biting tension out of it.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 336	Date: October 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0857079213
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Evie has survived in the post Flash apocalyptic world in part because of the help of her Cajun boyfriend, Jack, and the other companions they've picked up along the way. But it's also because of Evie's impressive abilities.

For Evie is part of a sinister game that plays out every time there's a worldwide catastrophe - a game that pits children against each other in a battle to the death, on which the Major Arcana of the Tarot are based. Evie is the Empress - she can control plants and poisons - and is one of the most powerful cards in the game. The problem? Without sunlight, she's not as strong as she should be, and it's been raining for days. And Death, the most powerful card is hunting her down.

Evie wants no part in the game. She figures if she can become powerful enough to take out Death, then perhaps the other cards would agree to a truce. But killing Death will prove difficult when Evie finds herself mysteriously drawn to him, history they shared in a previous life making it harder than she thought to end him.

Poison Princess was a great survival story with mild horror themes and an interesting fantasy twist in the shape of Cole's Arcana mythology. And while Endless Knight retains a lot of what was good about its predecessor, it rather missteps about halfway through by taking Evie out of the survival situation and placing her in the cushy safety of Death's hideout.

Tension is theoretically drawn from the fact that Evie is never sure if Death is going to decide to kill her each day, but it soon becomes apparent to the reader that there's little chance of this happening. Death appears like a socially awkward, but devastatingly attractive nerd - discussing literature and history, and not showing much interest at all in killing. As a looming presence lurking round every corner he was frightening and interesting. As a housemate, much of that mystique is removed.

There are some great set pieces, including a grisly fight to escape from a cannibal's lair, but the majority of this book hinges on whether or not Evie will chose Jack over Death or vice versa, which really takes the nail biting tension out of it.

I'd still pick up the third book, as the premise and characters are enough to make me want to return to the world, but it would have to be a spectacular finale to make up for the rather humdrum final third of this installment.

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.

Fans of nail biting survival horror might enjoy The Enemy by Charlie Higson.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Endless Knight by Kresley Cole at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Endless Knight by Kresley Cole at Amazon.com.

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