City of Ruin

I love decoding and connecting little clues along the way and seeing what I thought was not a complex world completely develop in this second book of The Witch Collector Series. The pace of the book was perfect for me. I fell into the rabbit hole of going back to book one to remember back stories of the main characters. The development of the characters was great. The emotional up and down with the sequence of events that happens between Raina and Alexus's relationship in this book (trying to keep it spoiler free!) hit my heart so right. I love how their relationship is solidified, despite it all. The spice level is definitely way higher in this book! The new characters in the book are so intriguing and I can't wait for book 3 to come out. Gods and godlings long thought dead? Fleurie intrigues me and I think Neri is still up in the air but I'm holding out hope for him... Digging into the past, I'm guessing we'll eventually get a good bit of the 300 years that Alexus, Colden, and Fia have lived, but I also can't wait for Raina and Nephele's stories and learn more about their parents. This book has elements of complex world building, little clues dropped that aren't quite revealed yet, magical abilities still being learned and thoughtfully revealed, and just overall strong characters. All the female characters are so strong! And Alexus may be a top "book boyfriend". I loved the first book and did not expect the City of Ruin to end in such a cliffhanger! That definitely threw me for a loop but makes me excited for the 3rd installment and will have to re-read and annotate (p.s. I'm not much of a re-reader but all the little clues are surfacing in my brain so I will be re-reading throughout the series). Charissa Weaks, you're a genius and I'm loving it. This is similar to Throne of Glass series.