Made me laugh until it was too painful to read. ( )

Rated 3.9 out of 5.0 Stars


Book Reviews Relating to this: After the Fall - Book 1; War of the Fae Series

Synopsis
The opening scene is a fight between the demons and the Fae. Jayne discovers that Spike has been possessed and is spilling his feelings to her. Spike is in love with her, has been ever since they met. Ben catches the two kissing while the battle is raging, and pulls Jayne away. But her mind is still on Spike and the words that he said. Holding Ben's hand, she envisions all of the demons being uprooted and sent back to the Underworld. With the power of all of the elements, her image appears to work. Except for one thing. Now she, and her pixie friend, Tim are in the Underworld with the demons. She needs to get back to Earth and help her friends, but she has no idea how. With the help of Demon Spike, Tim and Tony, she escapes from dragons, one scary torturing demon, and a troll to make it back to the plane that she belongs on. When they return to the compound, Tim is finally nominated as a member of the council and Jayne gets a new bodyguard. The Dark Fae werewolf, Aidan follows her around constantly. The council votes that the only plausible solution is to open the portals, and bring back the Guardians of the Portals. Too bad they are dragons, in the heart of both of the Otherworlds. Jayne and her friends must travel to the Underworld to find the first dragon, and the Overworld to find the second. But with the tear in the Gray getting bigger everyday, can the council alone protect the Fae and humans from the looming threat? With the possibility of the powerful Elemental, Ben on the side of the demons, do they stand a chance at winning this war?

My Thoughts
This book had a lot more action than the first in the series, but it felt as if everything was crammed tightly together. It all happened so quickly, scenes changing in the blink of an eye. I'm not necessarily saying that it was a bad thing, but it definitely felt more uncomfortable and pieced together than any other Elle Casey book I've read. My thoughts on the first book- Ben being a traitor and Spike falling in love with Jayne, are almost confirmed in this sequel. Jayne and her friends must go to Heaven and Hell to release the Guardians of the Portals to keep the demons trapped in the Underworld. I'm definitely curious to see how this series ends, but the books are getting more and more redundant as it continues. I have my fingers crossed that Casey ends this series with a "WTF just happened" plot twist, because as of right now, I have a feeling I know exactly how it will end. And I hate predictable endings... :)

Excerpt from Book

"Holy bat balls... I taunted a friggin dragon. What is my problem? Why do I not see the jaws of death when they are staring me in the face? I decided then and there that when this thing was over, I was going to get myself some serious therapy. Just because he hadn't been able to fry me was no reason to be getting all cocky. This beast could kill me in at least five different ways that I quickly calculated. I'd never been so good at math."- Jayne, Elle Casey

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Once again Elle Casey raises the bar. Just when you think it can't get any better you read the next book and are blown away. I haven't been a Young Adult in quite a while except at heart which just goes to show that anyone of any age can enjoy these books. Just when I think I have everything and everyone figured out Mrs. Casey takes the story on an unexpected turn. I really did not see certain events coming. There's a character (or two) that I really want to like but it's getting very hard after all the bad things they've done. I hope they can change but it's hard to tell at the moment. I think Jayne has finally settled on who is going to be her romantic interest and I was happy to see who it was (pretty much the guy I was hoping she'd fall for since the first book) although you never know with these books so I'll just keep my fingers crossed. Tim and his son are insane. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. What's with the "Spider Nakies" and "polly balls"? I don't even know how she comes up with this stuff but I'm certainly glad she does.

Elle Casey has a wonderful imagination, her characters are real, flawed, funny and everything you'd expect out of a motley group of friends. Her sense of humor leaves me laughing for most of the book (my relatives think I'm insane by now I'm sure) and her pacing is perfect. She's truly a talented author and I'm so glad that Amazon, Goodreads, etc have made it possible for independent authors everywhere to share their stories with us. This book deserves to be on the shelf at every single bookstore, Walmart, Target, anywhere books are sold, it's simply that good. I have to go start the 3rd book now. It's been hard writing this review and waiting even this long to see what happens next. These books just pull you straight into them and once you're there you'll never want to leave. ( )