strictly literary: scarlet rain by kristin cast

scarlet rain is the sequel to amber smoke, which i've previously reviewed. given the cliffhanger ending of the latter i felt compelled to read the series on. even though i still think these books would have benefited from being all one novel instead of being forced into a trilogy (i'm assuming). i also still think it's so cheesy that both of them have ended with "the end...for now." it's like how the blob ends with "the end" and then changes a "?" to the screen at the last second. i just think this is so lame. because obviously we know that the story is still in the middle--too many questions remain to be answered. i won't spoil the cliffhanger here, though i will say that it isn't as impactful as the cliffhanger in the first book, so being forced to wait for more doesn't seem like that much of a punishment.

as with amber smoke, there are good things and things that don't quite work here. there is joking about alek and eva's insta-love from bridget, but bridget and james have their own insta-love/lust thing going on too. the jokes are a little to meta and fall a bit flat. and the way it all happens is kind of weird. it's like the character of james is written like he's much younger than the age he is in the novels. i will say that this time the police story wove in a little better with the mythological story, so it made sense that these characters would be converging.

i think the underworld scenes worked better this time around too. and the way the mythology feeds the action is still pretty cool. ultimately these books are a fun, escapist read. nothing to take too seriously, or question. some scenes are really well-written, with crisp dialogue and description and other scenes try way too hard and end up on this side of cringeworthy. but again, you power through and just enjoy where it's going. at least that's what i did. and i'm pretty sure i'm in for part three. though if this is going to be more than a trilogy i might end up annoyed because i already think that it's been gratuitously divided up.

**this book is scheduled to publish on may 17, 2016. i received a complimentary advanced reader copy courtesy of netgalley/diversion books in exchange for my honest review.