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4.5 stars! This review will be spoiler free, but will have spoilers from the previous book!
Synopsis:
Tyrus is now the new ruler of the galactic empire. Nemesis is his intended bride and future Empress. The whole Grandiloquy is against them. Tyrus is only a child in their eyes and barely has the capability to control his scepter. Nemesis is not human in their eyes and will never be on the same level as them, a completely unfit being to be an empress. So not only must Tyrus and Nemesis work together to keep the power to rightly hold, but they have attempt changing the entire hierarchy and structure of the empire together. They have to fight, and scheme, and take on danger missions to uncover the truth. And so they do and CRAZY TWISTS AND TURNS ENSUE.
Initial thoughts:
This is the second installment in the Diabolic series by S. J. Kincaid. GODS, this book was not a sequel slump in the slightest. I loved every single bit of this book. The characters and the romance and the revenge all felt so real. You feel like you are involved in the story, absolutely absorbing. The world is growing! You learn so much in this book about the history of this future human society, about the royal family, about their religion even! I feel so much more knowledgeable and understanding of everything. Not to mention the sci-fi and physics aspects of this series that is 100% spot on. The time-space-gravity changes had me going crazy! AND the plot twists and surprises are never ending so be prepared. Kindcaid makes you fight tooth and nail for a happy ending. MY HEART IS IN TATTERS. I love how believable these characters, their emotions, their decisions, and their vengeful plotting is. This book was just so good I cannot even really explain all the reasons why I loved it.
**I read this book using Audible & highly recommend this narrator! She is amazing!**
Plot:
I cannot with this book right now. SO MUCH JUST WENT DOWN. And things kept going down. And it never ended. And my heart shattered and repaired and shattered again. Sometimes you don’t even know how to feel while you’re reading. Like should I be happy? Can I be happy? Or is this just all going to blow up in my face in the next two pages. Every time something good comes along, you dread the moment Kincaid will take it all away. Definitely not an easy read for those that like sooner gratification. You struggle right alongside Nemesis with every single setback and there are SO MANY. There are moments of gratification as well, but man. You must prepare yourself for the heart break in this book. And I know it seems like Kincaid is going to put these characters through the ringer, but none of the setbacks are ludicrous. This plot makes A LOT of sense. Every decision made by any party in this book makes sense.
Given that, I still was sad about the character development of a certain female in this book. I had such high hopes for a strong F/F friendship and didn’t get that, but we shall see how that progresses in the next book. The romance took a SUPER unexpected turn as well. Tyrus’s love for Nemesis is the cutest most pure thing in this book, and even that isn’t safe. Nemesis will literally do anything to keep Tyrus alive and safe, and even that has it’s consequences. SO MUCH TORTURE TO MY HEART.
About the world building, or shall I say… galaxy building. Wrapping my head around the fact that these people have no clue about anything related to science and yet they are living with machines that can jump in and out of hyperspace… I’m like WHAT. Still, the physics explaining the time-space distortion and malignant space and intense gravitational pull of black holes is quite spot on.
Then there’s also history building and religion building. We learn so much more about the Helionic religion in The Empress, its origin and development and intended purpose. We even get some history on the human race and how the royal family came to be. A lot of the plot revolves around the scepter the Emperor, and only the ROYAL Emperor, wields. The science about everything is just so interesting. The devastation that Tyrus causes about it is heart wrenching too.
Side note – everything I’ve mentioned at this point is heart wrenching.
Now that ENDING. Oh. My. Gods. I am still reeling from that ending. My thoughts after the last paragraph were just like, “Wait…. No… What?! Hoooowwww?! WHAT EVEN IS THIS?!” And BAM cliffhanger. The cliffhanger to murder me eternally until the next book comes out.
Characters:
NEMESIS is strong and smart and determined. I love that she is willing to always do what she thinks is right regardless of the consequences. Of course, sometimes the consequences are crazy bad, but still. She stands up for what she wants for the people she loves. She was a little bit bothersome in the very very early chapters only because I kept thinking “what are you DOING?!” but she eventually got better about it. I’m so psyched about her development in this book, but then the ending. The ending just changes so much. I don’t even know what to expect of her now.
TYRUS is the ultimate mastermind. He is neurotic which I love in this book because it’s something Nemesis sees and understands in him and accepts. He is obviously gorgeous in a nerdy way. He is wicked smart. He can create some devastating vengeful plans, yikes. Tyrus has some very unexpected, interesting character development in this book. BREAKS MY HEART. I only hope my dear baby Tyrus will be saved in the book to come. Dear Gods, Kincaid must fix everything or my heart will remain crushed. Again that ending just is a whole game changer.
SENATOR PASUS is downright EVIL. I still to this point in this do not know why they do not just outright kill him. He’s a traitorous treacherous beast and he needed to die from the beginning. GOSH. I was not satisfied with how his role in the story played out. It wasn’t dark enough, he has yet to suffer enough for all the pain and catastrophic death he’s caused. UGH.
NEVENI is someone I am speechless about. She is the character I just want to slap. Slap sooooo hard because she’s a godsdamned idiot. Again, UGH. I can’t even with what she’s gonna do along with Nemesis in the next book.
Overall:
Many people say that the Diabolic should have been a standalone and may not want to read this sequel. I completely disagree. I love Kincaid’s writing and ability to write a believable and heart racing plot. Highly recommend this novel in the continuation of the Diabolic series. I was on the edge of my seat. My breath was stolen. My heart was broken, no… shattered, no… obliterated! By the entire plot, the development of characters, the ENDING, and the cliffhanger. I. NEED. THE. NEXT. BOOK. ASAP.
FTC: Thank you Simon & Schuster as well as Big Honcho Media for sending me this book. I was incredibly happy and forever grateful that you guys sent me this amazing novel. HOWEVER *All thoughts and opinion are my own!*