Welcome to book spotlight where instead of giving you another book review, I’m just going to talk about books I’ve read recently that I enjoyed. Prepare yourself for the fangirl gushing.
Whenever you enjoy the first book in a series, there are always a few worries when you read the sequel. Will it be as good as book one? Will you still like the characters or the world or whatever? Will it wrap everything up in a good way or will it drag out the plot unecessarily?
When it comes to A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen, I didn’t really think it needed a sequel. This dark academia thriller fantasy was so well executed that I couldn’t imagine a sequel would add anything, even if Ren hadn’t quite exacted her revenge. I was worried that a sequel would lack what originally drew me into the first book. After all, the premise of main premise of book one is about the characters surviving in the wilderness, using magic and their own dark secrets to fight monsters and find a way home.
While A Whisper in the Walls continues Ren and Theo’s story after they have returned home, the book throws them into another game of survival as they navigate politics and plot their revenge. This time, the monsters don’t come from the woods but from within their own families.
What I enjoyed the most about the sequel is how it expanded the world and the magic. New places are introduced, new aspects of the magic system are given room to grow, new characters are given life. Scott has created a fantastic world that deserves every opportunity to continue to thrive in more stories to come.
I was a bit put off when I found out there were two new characters that would get POV chapters. What I assumed was a continuation of Ren’s story soon branched into a much bigger storyline. While I love Nevelyn (she deserves so much better!), I wasn’t sure if I would care about Dahvid’s personal revenge story as much. Scott made all three work, however, and I like how the different characters help shape the plan to take down the Broods. I just wish Nevelyn and Dahvid had been introduced, somehow, into book one. It definitely made it feel like the the publisher didn’t want to commit to a series until A Door in the Dark proved to be a bestseller. (*sigh*)
I also wish there were more Ren-Theo moments in this book. Their relationship felt skipped over instead of allowing it to continue to unfold like in book one. I felt like I was being told how their relationship was shifting instead of being shown it. I just didn’t quite see how Ren fell for him and wanted something more. But I did like how they work together and how their bond gave an extra layer of tension to the revenge plot.
But like book one, there are a lot of great twists and turns that help shake up the storyline. The revenge plot wraps up nicely in this book, and there are hints of Scott writing more books set in this world. A Whisper in the Walls is a solid sequel that kept me on the edge of my seat and still had me worrying about which characters would make it out alive.
Keeper of the Wood Between Worlds 