Kate fled Verity after the end of the last book. However, it turns out monsters exist in other cities than V-City. Kate ends up following a monster back home, back to August, and back to confront her own past sins. A good finale. ( )

Finish doing the readings for the finals I have in 2 days (✗)

Finish the book I started like 3 months ago before everything went to shit and haven't touched since and so now no longer remember the plot of (✓)

So like people were fighting but I don't rlly know why. And then there was the whole shadow possession monster thingie which despite me only remembering like 0.5% of the previous plot points I still remember it felt super out of place when it showed up and well it doesn't feel like it rlly leads anywhere here either soooo and some major deaths which I think are supposed to be dramatic but I already read the wiki so it was less dramatic. Also the deaths just felt generally unimpactfull overall? idk maybe its cuz the book just kinda ends so there's no way to see the consequences but then whats the point?

oscillating b/w a 2 and a 3 rn will see what my mood is when I wake up tomorrow/later today ( )

A great if not perfect sequel in this series (a "bilogy"? "duology"?) with a similar structure as the first book.
It picks up after a length of time wherin Kate is in a new city with a new set of friends but still fighting monsters though she only knows what little combat training she learned in high school P.E. class (which she tends to mention a LOT). August is still in Verity but moving up the ranks of his adoptive father's taskforce, being emo about how emo but also how not emo he is, and has a new metal-plated violin with a bow that is also a sword??? (where they found a master violin maker that could also defy the laws of what makes a violin actually work isn't part of the story and also magic etc). They still think of each other - because this is Romeo and Juliet with monsters - but without the communication grid between cities, they have nothing but nostalgia to go on. Then things happen as they tend to do which causes a new monster to be formed, who then finds out about a larger food source in Verity via Kate so Kate uses it as an excuse to be a dick to those who gave her things for free and follows the monster because she's strong and brave and true and stubborn to the point of stupidity like all YA heroines. Anyway, more things happen that are exciting and then sad and then maddening and then more sad but also exciting. There's no happy ending here. ( )

After devouring the first book in the duology, I preordered Our Dark Duet without a second thought, and I was not disappointed. Book 2 is just as fast-paced and enthralling as the first, and the ending...you just have to read it for yourself.

Schwab uses wonderfully evocative language that brings out Kate's and August's personalities in an eloquent and believable manner. Her characters are well-rounded and so very flawed, but you want August and Kate to succeed. You root for them from page one. August's character arc especially is bittersweet and at times hard to read because he's changed so drastically from the boy we met before. But it makes sense.

***For fans of dark YA, especially books like Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.*** ( )

Everything I hoped wouldn't happen did.
The ending was devastating yet suited this book.
The ending makes it something special ( )