The first book had bad things happen, it’s a post-apoc setting after all, but it was still a pretty nice and hopeful story. This one was bad thing after bad thing after bad thing with very little good in between. Which is fine. Sometimes life is like that. Sometimes stories are like that. And it was ultimately hopeful. Just make sure you’re in the right headspace for it. (I want to give a specific warning for child death.)

It was still a good story though! With unique and mostly lovable characters, old and new. I felt for them, dealing with the struggles of the world, personal struggles, and some relationship speedbumps.

I did get frustrated though with the insistence that Jamie was just on a revenge mission. Even Jamie himself started thinking that’s what it was. But it wasn’t. Jamie was rightfully worried and wanted to take down a bad person who was using the lawless new world to hold power over and harm and kill others. Jamie was trying to protect people, to make the world safer. Andrew did seem to realize this eventually, but it was baffling to me that either of them ever thought otherwise.

There was a bit of disability rep. One character gets injured, and it touches on chronic pain and his worries about the future. It’s not something that just disappears.

I thought the first book was a standalone, so I let all the details drain from my memory and didn’t remember much, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment of this book. This one seemed even more like an ending, but clearly I could be wrong.

Both narrators of the audiobook, Barrett Leddy and Andrew Gibson,were great. They sounded natural and I was never confused about who was talking. They also suited their characters well. Andrew had a more optimistic, bubbly personality, Jamie had a more serious, concerned personality, and the voice acting, the way they spoke, reflected that.

Overall, despite the heaviness, I enjoyed this story and these characters.

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2024 // Format: Audiobook*