This can't be the last book. Sure, it wraps up (a little too neatly) the plot of the book, but there's still an overarching plot that needs to be resolved.

The Cruelest Mercy is the second book in The Kinder Poison series. It was just as wonderful as book one. This has definitely become one of my favorite series.

The Cruelest Mercy picks up about a month after the events of book one. Zahru returns to the capital to witness Jet’s coronation. However before that can happen, Kasta makes a shocking reappearance and claims he is the rightful winner of the Crossing. It is determined that Kasta will be the next Mestrah because bears the god’s mark proving he is the correct winner. Zahru also possesses god’s mark, and because of this she and Kasta are put into another competition to see who will become the rightful Mestrah.

Zahru doesn’t trust Kasta and will do whatever it takes to make sure he doesn’t become the new Mestrah. The god’s mark also means Zahru has been granted some new powers, ones that will eventually let her enforce her will over other people. While trying to stop Kasta, she may end up losing herself in the process.

While overall I loved this book, I didn’t like the direction of Zahru’s character in this one. It’s always hard to see a character you care about taking the wrong path. I’m looking forward to book three to see if she can redeem herself.

I can't believe it's taken me this long to read this series but oh my God i'm eating my fist. I cannot wait for the third book -- this one definitely did not have the second book syndrome whatsoever. This was amazing!

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book at the time prior to release. Unfortunately my taste in books have changed a good bit in the last couple of years, and I am not reading as many YA books. Also as a mood reader, it can be quite difficult at times to read book around the time of release. If I read and review the book in the future, I will add my review here. Thanks again for the opportunity.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I love this series so much and really enjoyed this second book.

I will admit it was quite a bit slower than the first and that made it hard for me to get into it but the ending...wow, that propelled me forward SO much to want to read the third book!

I would say if you enjoyed the first book you'll like this one too but you may need to push through at certain points since there is less plot moving you forward (like the race from book 1). But the ending is totally worth it!

As I said before too - I love how creative this author is and her descriptions and world are SO amazing!

My rating: 4*
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Thanks to NetGalley for this gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the first book, and I enjoyed this one as well.

I loved the characters, story, and world. I found myself excited to come home and read it every night.

I highly suggest this to fans of fast paced YA fantasy.

I was *slightly* obsessed with book 1 of this series and could not wait for the second book to be released. It did not disappoint -- no second book syndrome here. I cannot wait for the adventure to continue in book 3. Zahru is so bad ass in this book!

Thank you NetGalley for providing an EARC in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I loved it. I think it was an amazing continuation for The Kinder Poison and it definitely couldn’t have been better, I love love love corruption arcs and this book provided everything I needed to be happy..

ok so this one wrecked me, I need book 3 asap. loved the magical elements, the characters only got better in this one. It reminded me so much about that morally grey characters that we all have learned to love no matter how bad that is. I loved the flow of the story, the character development, and the world building was spectacular.

4.5 rounded up

You know, this series is so incredibly underrated. It feels fresh and exciting, and it has that feral electricity streaming through it that makes me love YA. I felt this way about TKP, and that remains true about THE CRUELEST MERCY. I love Natalie Mae's writing so much, and her sense of pacing and ability to shock the reader remains unmatched. I was so happy she shoved Zahru and Katsa into a situation where they have to work together and face their past. I will never not be here for the "bad, dark or damaged boy is soft for a good girl" dynamic and we have it in spades here. The tension between Zahru's mixed feelings for Katsa and her determination to make sure he doesn't become Mestrah is *chef's kiss*. We also have an excellent love triangle with these two and Jet, and I am telling you that, as much as I love Jet, Katsa is up there and I don't know who I love more. I also loved seeing Zahru tap into her dark side as she taps into her own power and the power thrust on her made her character development perfection in this book. THE CRUELEST MERCY is so much fun, with subtle humor sprinkled throughout that made me laugh, characters I absolutely love, and a mind-blowing plot, and I am now dying for book 3!

As an avid adult fantasy reader, it still comes to a shock that I thoroughly enjoy these books. Underrated hit honestly. I read the first two books so quickly and my mind is just overwhelmed with images of Zahru and Kasta. The enemies-to-ally-to-lovers path they are on is everything and more, and the world is desperately in need of more them.
Full review to come on YouTube.

I enjoyed Kinder Poison so I was looking forward to reading this as well. I enjoyed being able to see a little into the royalty side of things. It was one of the easier reads in the Fantasy genre. I've read other fantasy books that make me feel very lost and confused, but this was a nice quick read. I enjoy this series so far.

This is such an underrated series that more people need to read!!!

If you are a fan of morally grey characters, delicious romance and high stake adventures I would highly recommend this. It is such a compelling story with a very unique spin on the classic YA fantasy plot. It has a beautiful world, fascinating characters and is just an all around enjoyable read.

Thank you PenguinTeen for the eARC.

Absolutely loved continuing to read more of Kasta and Zahru. I heard we are getting a third book and I'm excited for it.

This book gave me some serious whiplash and had me questioning where my loyalty lay through the entire book. And I felt righteous in my beliefs. I can't even explain how morally grey this character is and yet I was completely rooting for them every step of the way. That's some seriously good writing right there! I loved this even more than book 1!

I read The Kinder Poison in 2020 and it was one of my favourite books of the year. I was so excited for book two to come out so I could be thrown back into this world and read about these characters once again. I will admit I did go into this book with pretty high expectations because of how much I loved book one and I am happy to say that The Cruelest Mercy definitely did not disappoint. If you haven’t started reading The Kinder Poison series yet I highly recommend you do. This book was just amazing and I cannot wait for book 3!

I'm starting to not like Zahru...

Anyone else feel that way? I feel like she is slowly turning into a villain, and I didn't want her to succeed in her scheming!

Trying to make this as spoiler free for a sequel, which is hard, but I also don't know what team I am on. I was definitely team Jet in book 1, and now I'm kind of team Kasta! He seemed so defeated in the end, and throughout the whole thing I just found myself sympathizing with him.

I thought this was a great continuation of the series, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I thought this book was so different from book 1, where The Kinder Poison was more action and adventure, this was more political scheming. Even though it was very different, I still enjoyed it and would still highly recommend this series to anyone who loves fantasy!

Great book! A perfect sequel for the previous book i really loved this series continuation! My only complaint is I cant tell if there is supposed tp be a third book or if it just ends here? It is a decent place to end but this book had so much buildup I thought there would be more. Still a great read tho.

I was super excited to read this one, but due to personal life circumstances I was unable to get to it in time