As book 2 of a series, readers will know, including myself, going in that there are characters and plot to remember. But I have to say: either my memory is terrible, it’s been far too long since I read book 1, or the prompts in the narrative to remind the reader are poorly implemented in Submerged. It took me until almost halfway through to feel like I had a sense for all our characters, locations, politics, etc. I suspect it’s a bit of all three contributors that led me to really struggle at the beginning. Now in fairness there is a large cast of characters, locations, politics, religions, etc. to contend with here. Yet I often read elaborate fantasy books and do not usually have as much trouble as I had here with A.M. Deese's second offering in the Dance of the Elements series.

Submerged continues immediately following book 1’s cliffhanger and takes no time at all to get ramped up. We are thrown back into the elaborate game of politics, war, and treachery that began in Ignited. Were the characters a bit more developed, and a little less cliché, Submerged could easily move from being in any sort of new adult category to straight-up fantasy. I think what Deese really needs is a strong fantasy editor; perhaps from Orbit or TOR to really nail down some character traits, facts, and world development. I’m not saying this will be Sanderson level quality (who is really?). With a couple rewrites and good editing there truly is a solid story and cast of antagonists and protagonists. These sentiments echo my thoughts on book 1. A really great editor could make this series so much more!

Finally, fair warning, there is an epic cliffhanger here just as there was in book one. As with many middle series books it feels (at times) that the story didn’t progress very far. Although, I do believe there is a resolution of sorts here; even if the cliffhanger makes you revolt a bit with its drive to pull the story into book three. I really enjoyed our two main gals (finally!) meeting one another (not a spoiler, it had to happen eventually for the series to progress), and felt that the romantic interests were tamed down and allowed the politics and plot to stand-out more. This was a huge plus for me as I usually can do with less romantic stuff in the average book marketed such as Submerged has been.

I hope Deese continues to promote and write her book series. Even if a part of me also hopes a bigger fantasy publisher steps in to give Dance of the Elements series a more fantasy texture and elevate it to the level I think it could be.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

A well written sequel to the first installment. At times the pacing was a bit slower than I would have liked, but the author's writing style made up for it. This book was more on the lower end of YA than I expected, but still entertaining. I do hope there is a third book to this series.

In the second instalment of the series, Jura and Tylak offer us powerful characters in their consistency and determination. Whilst this novel didn't quite offer the intrigue of the first, it offered enough of its own individuality to keep the reader going. Whilst it felt a bit disconnected from the first novel - perhaps something to do with the culmination of the series being revealed in the first novel - by offering it's own problems/purpose it quickly redeemed itself with themes of war, tyranny, and death.

Although this is the second in the series I believe that Submerged has held its own against the first book, “Ignited”, and is a fantastic continuation of what we read in the first book. The first book did a fantastic job of world building and character building that it was a little bit upsetting that the world was not broadened upon in the second book. However, the author, Deese, did a great job in bringing us back INTO the world to continue on the adventure that the royals have. It was very nice seeing the characters back and thrown into more chaos then the first book provided. I always love a little bit of chaos.

I love journeys that characters go on to find something, themselves, items, quests, etc as it brings some fun into the books. The characters threw themselves into situations that I wouldn’t have necessarily done myself, but I loved seeing the thought process behind some of their choices. The characters Jura and Tylak were still very interesting to hear from but were not quite as exciting as everything else happening in the book and I feel there could have been more there to create a better experience with these characters.

Something I am not a HUGE fan of in any book is when the chapters switch back and forth between many characters—I get confused quickly with that and sometimes I lose my way. Otherwise this book is a perfect example of something my students would gobble up and ask for more.

This wasn't entirely the sequel I wanted but it was the sequel the story needed for the future of the series.

Much like the first book in this series, there is a lot of information being brought forth and it was a little overwhelming for me. I love multiple POVs in a novel but I thought the constant flip-flopping here stopped me from fully immersing myself in each characters' story, especially the new character POVs. I would just get into it and then we'd be moving on to the next.

But all these little character asides are needed to build up the various subplots that have been started. That's why I think this is one of those sequel novels that serves as a bridge more than one that is action packed or filled with shocking twists. There are definitely some great revelations along the way but I thought the plot was pretty baseline as it weaved the web for the future.

I enjoyed the first on in this series, so was excited to find this one. Well written, I might have even enjoyed this one a little more than the first!

This book surprised me in so many ways. I didn't read the first book in the series, which was a mistake. It takes off after the events of book one, and without having known these, I was a bit lost for awhile. So, I definitely recommend hitting the first book before tackling this one.

The story is told from various character's points of view, allowing the reader to gain a broad view of what is going on. This is also necessary as the plot is well woven and each character has their own part to play. It's also this character depth which grabs and draws into the tale, making sure there are favorites as well as those to be disliked. There were times, which the story didn't draw in as much as I'd hoped...and I'm not sure why.

The scenes are vivid and do draw in. Especially Jura had me rooting for her with her strong character and determination. There are many unexpected twists and turns, and each one added more tension then the last. It's a well-layered fantasy with a lot to offer for the right fan.

Submerged is the second book in the Dance Of The Elements series. Last year, I've read the first book Ignited and I really liked it. I think this one's a pretty good sequel. I enjoyed it even more than the first book. I liked the new set of characters and also the main characters Jura and Tylak. This series has a unique concept and great world building. The multiple POV's might become a issue for some readers, but if you can handle that, then you'll definitely enjoy reading this series. The following review contains minor spoilers from the first book.

The story follows six characters Jura, Tylak, Kay, Coral, Ash, Beshar, and Amira. Although this book features seven characters, the central focus was on Jura and Tylak's journey. After the events in the first book, Jura and Tylak journey to Kitoi to rescue her friend Amira. She doesn't have any answers for her strange powers yet but she'll do anything to save her people. The former Shadow Dancer Tylak decides to be her bodyguard along their journey. Jura starts to have feelings for Tylak who filled the void left by her first love Markhim. I quite enjoyed Tylak and Jura's relationship in this book. The romance was a pretty much a slow burn. I also enjoyed the bond between Ash and Kay. They're like father and daughter. Little girl Kay is very naive and innocent but she has a strong fire power. She has a potential to become a strong weapon if trained well. I enjoyed watching her grow and can't wait to see her in action in the next book. Beshar, the Ninth of the thirteen was an interesting character. His bodyguards The Samur are a bit creepy. He's on the good side and helps Amira to fight against the unknown villain, he's aware that her father is controlled by someone who wants to destroy tri-alliance and bring war into the world. Princess Coral is the daughter of the Sea King. She's one of the major characters in the book. After a tragic event, she sets on the journey to vengeance. Amira is Jura's best friend. She was kidnapped as a bait for Jura. She's pretty confused about her situation, but she'll do anything to survive.

The plot was engaging throughout. It's a little long book, but I never felt the need to skip the pages. Once you're into the story, you're hooked. The plot moved in a steady pace, it's neither fast or slow. There are a lot of interesting twists and turns throughout. I liked the writing style of the author. The book was written in third person multiple POV's. The shifting POV's between different characters didn't bother me much. It gave more insight to the story. The ending was pretty good. I'm excited to know what happens in the next book. The world building and the magic was perfect and unique. It's one of the best aspect of this series.

Overall, I loved this book!  It's a perfect YA fantasy read filled with magic, adventure, and romance. The book concluded with a cliffhanger and I'm very much excited for the next book.

This was an interesting read, a little juvenile at times but overall I enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to others and I look forward to more from this author.

I received this as an eARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Aurelia Leo, LLC for giving me access.

That ending! Please tell me that there will be another book?

I thoroughly enjoyed Submerged. The journey we go on with several of the characters, kept me on the edge of my seat! There was so much action that I couldn't put it down. A.M. Deese creates a a magic system that seems much like Avatar, the Last Airbender but is also uniquely its own class. We have magic and dragons and battles (Oh, my!) A great read for any fan of fantasy.

This was a lovely read, but I don’t feel it held up as well as the first book. It was interesting and kept me entertained but it just seemed to lack a bit of sparkle the first book had. Still enjoyable

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book was received as an ARC from AURELIA LEO, LLC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Judging from the book to the description I was not expecting the results I have read from this book. Immediately when I read this book, it took me back to one story The Little Mermaid having the same premise of meeting the sea king and then overtaken by an evil witch except the twist, the witch is the sea king's daughter perceived to overrule her father's reign putting the Kitoi in danger. Then we have the heroes of Jura and Tylak that are on a mission to find answers and rescue their friends only to find they turned for the worst and now relied on new friends to save the sand sea before it perishes just like how Ariel and Eric did with Ursula in The Little Mermaid.

We will consider adding this title to our YFantasy collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

After having read the first one, I was very pleased when Netgalley sent me this for review.
This book was unfortunately poorer than the first one. I did enjoy the writing but the plot in this one for a bit too tedious.