The Empress

Its so rare lately for me to find a book that I have this level of excitement for. It reminds me of those days when I was fangirling over Twilight and the Hunger Games. The days when I first discovered YA and everything was new and exciting. I loved the space setting, all the fascinating technology and the politics. The desperate situations, the ruthlessness and the setting reminds me of the Red Rising trilogy. Even though I saw the betrayals coming this was an emotional roller coaster ride.

This book evoked such strong emotions of betrayal and heartbreak, I hated it but I loved it. If that makes any sense. The treacherous scenes upset me but I wasnt angry at the main character Nemesis because I didnt feel like it was her fault for putting herself in that situation. Some of the characters developpement didnt go in the direction I wanted, but it made the story that much more intense. I cant be too disapointed because I loved how the thrilling plot kept me on the edge of my seat.

I loved that we got some history about earth. This was a quick entertaining read with compelling characters but I felt like the friendship element was lacking in this book and thats one of the things I really enjoyed about the first book. Neveni wasnt as likeable in this book. For good reason, but I still missed the old Neveni. I really wanted the romance to go in a different direction, but its course worked for the story. I love Tyrus and Im so sad with how things ended. I thought the author did a fantastic job with the antagonist.

You have to go into this knowing it will not be all unicorns and rainbows. It will rip your heart out and then proceed to stomp on it. Things will not work out the way you want them to. That being said, I really enjoyed it. In a way Im glad things didnt turn out perfect because that can get quite boring. When I first read Diabolic I thought it was a standalone and Im so happy we're getting a series in this world. I cant wait for the next book. After reading this Im more motivated to start Kincaids other book Insignia.

Reading this book, it almost felt like it would be the death of me. So much happened, and gah, the feels! Wow, they are doing so well! Oh, no, that's going to have horrible consequences! Oh, what are they going to do now! Oh, how could that happen! There was just so much, and it was so great to read!

This book totally tore my heart out! Wow, the ups and downs! It was like getting punched-hard-in the throat, being in a big warm hug of love, and then having your stomach drop out of your body. Very, very intense! But so freaking great!

I wasn't sure if I wanted this to be a series. The ending of The Diabolic was good, it could've been a stand alone. But I'm so glad that we got more time with this world, because there's so much to learn! They were daring, and that got them great opportunities-and cost them dearly.

Nemesis had a lot to prove, that she was going to be, well, the Empress. And she faced a lot because she was a Diabolic. But she proved herself, because I knew she wasn't soulless, and I'm glad that it was confirmed by their highest religious figure!

We learned so much about this world-like why they were in the galaxy they were, why they left Earth. And why science was banned. Which was so urgh! It could've gone in a totally different direction, and that was just hard to deal with!

There were so many moments where things were going wrong. They faced so many challenges, some that seemed unbeatable. And that they shouldn't be happening, but they were. Which made the almost ending so great, they won! But then...

Oh, wow, that ending! I kinda read it before I finished the first chapter, so I knew it was coming, but wow, that could not really prepare me! Everything that happened in this book, made the ending so much more poignant and heartbreaking! I need the final book now!

Yeah, I loved reading this book so, so, so much! The wait for the 3rd book is going to be evil!

Um...there is no possible way that there are enough words to express how unbelievably fantastic this was! I can't remember the last time a book made me feel so much. Half of it I was overly indignant for both Nemesis and Tyrus, and the rest was just a whirlwind of emotion that changed with each chapter read. The twists and turns and deceptions Kincaid writes of are so delicious and intriguing that I couldn't put it down. One more chapter always, ALWAYS turned into five more. I never thought I would enjoy a tale with such devious political machinations as the focus, but hot damn, this was too good to say no to at any point. Admittedly the beginning was a little rough but that very quickly changed. I quite literally can't say enough good things about this book and I quite literally cannot wait to get my hands on the last one.

I had a few small issues with this book but the ending changed everything and brought this to a solid 5 star read. As other reviews have noted it starts out slow and involves a lot of talking. The focus is mainly on world building and it gets pretty complex with explanations of the political system and all the families and their shifting alliances. There’s also a ton of detail about their religion. It’s all a bit tedious and not very exciting. I think it was taken a few steps too far and in the process was less compelling than it could have been with a faster pace. This information all becomes quite important later on though so by the end I understood why so much detail was included.

There were a lot of lovey-dovey scenes between Tyrus and Nemesis so if romance is your thing you should be pleased. Romance is not my thing and I mentally rolled my eyes and hoped their happiness would soon pass. There has to be drama after all to keep us reading! I was rewarded in spades and holy crow if you are a shipper of this couple buckle up buttercup because it’s going to be a bumpy ride. I was shocked at where the story took their relationship and where the story went in general. There were so many unexpected twists and things get seriously dark.

This book ends on a big cliff-hanger and I’ve seen others plea for the author to fix what she broke in this one in the next book in the series. I might be in the minority but I want everything more broken. I want more destruction, more heartache and no forgiveness. That’s right, NO FORGIVENESS. The things that were done in this book were unforgivable and I think the final book should be a guns-a-blazing battle to the death. I will be quite disappointed if there’s a redemption arc for the “bad guy.” No forgiveness, no redemption, no mercy. I sound positively Diabolic.