Rage and Ruin - Review

Rage and Ruin (The Harbinger, # 2)

By: Jennifer L Armentrout

Publication: June 9th 2020 by Inkyard Press

576 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Dangerous secrets and forbidden desires lead to shocking consequences… Don’t miss book two of the fantastical Harbinger trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout.

“Jennifer L. Armentrout’s intoxicating new fantasy is her best yet!” — New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter on Storm and Fury

A half human, half angel and her bonded gargoyle protector must work with demons to stop the apocalypse while avoiding falling in love. The Harbinger is coming…but who or what is it? All of humankind may fall if Trinity and Zayne can’t win the race against time as dark forces gather.

As tensions rise, they must stay close together and patrol the DC streets at night, seeking signs of the Harbinger, an entity that is killing Wardens and demons with no seeming rhyme or reason. Forbidden to be with each other, Zayne and Trinity fight their feelings and turn to unusual sources for help—the demon Roth and his cohorts. But as deaths pile up and they uncover a sinister plot involving the local high school and endangering someone dear to Zayne, Trin realizes she is being led…herded…played for some unknown end. As anger builds and feelings spiral out of control, it becomes clear that rage may be the ruin of them all.

I read Storm and Fury in the summer of 2019. So it's been 2.5 years. The cliffhanger ending had me dying to get my hands on Rage and Ruin. But I didn't end up getting approved for an e-galley. And while I always knew I wanted to continue the series, review books always take priority for me. So Rage and Ruin kept getting pushed back. And finally I needed something fantasy that I could just jump into and I felt it was finally time to read this book.

Because so much time passed since I read book 1, I was lost at the beginning of Rage and Ruin. I needed a few chapters before I felt like I remembered enough of the past book. But I easily remembered how much I loved Zayne and Trinity. Their forbidden relationship made them so easy to root for. Can they overcome? Will there be consequences for breaking the rules. Obviously I say it all the time, the relationships are my favorite part. I felt like the relationship was evenly balanced with the hunt and discovery of the big bad.

What I didn't really like is how fiction often portrays the idea of "something can't be wrong if it feels so right". Those words weren't used in the book exactly but I felt enough like the idea was pushed to mention it. And boy was I gearing up to blast JLA over the whole "I know this is wrong but my emotions are overwhelming my logic completely" direction it seemed like things were going there at the end. She worked this angle to be just different enough for me to be semi-satisfied. The character didn't quite have to follow through with the direction he/she was planning.

Of course it wouldn't be any book but the series ender if there wasn't a cliffhanger. I'm curious to know what will happen next, but I'm afraid too much of the next book will be fighting the big bad.

Rage and Ruin was a very nice sequel to Storm and Fury. I'm intrigued with where the cliffhanger will go, but I kind of imagine it being easily worked through. I enjoyed every second of Trinity and Zayne's relationship journey. Rage and Ruin gets 4 Stars. Have you read Rage and Ruin? What did you think? Let me know!