Balzer + Bray Endless Water, Starless Sky

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Endless Water, Starless Sky, the second half of the story begun in Rosamund Hodge's previous novel, Bright Smoke, Cold Fire. And after practically swallowing it whole, I can report that it does not disappoint. It is, however, very hard to discuss without giving away spoilers to anyone who hasn't read the first book. Therefore, my remarks will be general.As usual, Hodge's prose is beautifully written, and her background in mythology and folklore continues to inform her work. (view spoiler) As always, she brings to her Y.A. novel a level of complexity and depth which I appreciate and do not always find in this genre.If you love fantasy world building, true love against all odds, swordplay, zombies, romance, loyalty, and friendship, (not to mention humor despite grim circumstances) Endless Water, Starless Sky will meet or exceed your expectations. But if you also want something more, you'll find that too.One element which particularly struck me was the importance of individual choices even when you cannot see how anything you can do will make any difference. Another was the validity of beauty, even when everything seems meaningless. I was also interested in seeing how the four protagonists confronted the religious or philosophical assumptions which they had absorbed from their individual clans or prior experiences.Can I also say that I really loved Paris? And by the end of the book, I was even fond of Romeo.

With the ending to Bright Smoke, Cold Fire I had been dying to get my hands on this one and this turned out to be a solid conclusion. This book has a great cast of characters with so many intertwined relationships.The angst in this book is real! Romeo and Juliet are both fighting on opposite sides of a war and neither ever seems to realize what the other is up to. Waiting for them to run into one another was torture. But I kinda loved that push and pull. I also love how complicated and intertwined the relationships are and that the friendships are just as important (if not more so) than the romantic ones. Nothing is ever easy and things always have to be earned. It would help if they would work together instead of constantly trying to protect one another, but at the same time you can really see how much these characters care for one another.My favorite of them all is definitely Juliet. She is so strong and determined and she will protect those she cares for at all costs. She’s also willing to sacrifice a lot to save those she cares for. I also love that she can be a bit unlikable at times. Her flaws make her great. Honestly every single character in this book is flawed and I love them all more because of that.Rosamund Hodge really knows how to take a story we know and add that fantasy twist. She creates a bloody world here but the writing is so good and immerses you in their weird and bloody world. This book is definitely a slow build, but it builds to something great.All in all, this was a good conclusion to Bright Smoke, Cold Fire and even though it took me a while to get through, I really savored this one.

I've been waiting for this since "Bright Smoke, Cold Fire" - Hodge set up a masterful cliffhanger in the first volume of this series! - and was not disappointed. The story picks up immediately, with a reimagined Romeo and Juliet both trying to find a way to be together without killing each other or their families, all while striving to save their post-apocalyptic city from a Master Necromancer and from the Realm of Death itself.I was caught up in the surprising yet authentic development of each character and each relationship - and I loved that the supporting characters felt as real as the main ones. The vivid expansion of the world and cultures in it captivated me. I especially loved the climactic sequence, a dream-like journey, especially built on foundations ranging from Homer to C.S. Lewis to Blue Oyster Cult, but in unexpected and profound ways. Loved it!

As the second half of a duology, it's harder to review this one by describing the plot, because Endless Water, Starless Sky really does follow so tightly upon Bright Smoke, Cold Fire. If you haven't read the first half, go read it right now and be glad that you haven't been like the rest of us waiting for more than a year to find out how the cliff hanger would resolve!Overall, the duolgy re-imagines the story of Romeo & Juliet in a fantasy world which has been reduced to one city by the Ruining, a magical catastrophe which drove warring clans into the blood-protected walls of an ancient citadel which remains as the one hold out against the undead Revenants.I never thought I was a big fan of Romeo & Juliette, because it's usually presented as a romance, and I don't think much of the relationship between the two teens in the original play. However, this book sets the key stakes around loyalty to clan, and the necessity of ending the war between clans which is destroying the city, and also around the deep friendship and loyalty between the four main characters.Hodge balances those four main characters well, and in this second half they go to strange and deeply evocative lengths to save each other and their world, culminating in a terrible and beautiful journey through the underworld.If you have an appreciate for myth turned novel and for deeply evocative world building, you will enjoy this novel.

Wonderful second half of the story started in Bright Smoke Cold Fire. Hodge creates a world that is beautiful, strange, and frightening. The story is fast paced and complex. Her characters are three dimensional, no cookie cutter heroes and villans. Can’t wait to read her next book.