Is there evil in all of us?

OMG! OMG! OMG! For real! Usually sequels are pretty iffy. They can really add to a story like Harry Potter (obviously) or they can just really diminish a good story like the Ender's Game (I have a lot of mixed reviews about that series but that will be saved for another time).

The first The Merciless was good. It was really not what I was expecting but that was a good thing. My expectations were blown out of the water and I will forever regret. I was pleased with the direction it went and I was immensely glad that there was a second book to follow up on Sophia.

This book starts basically a few months after what happened in the first book. Sophia is struggling to grasp what has happened. She struggles to understand what is real and what isn't. She is suffering from frequent panic attacks and lapses of reality. She's dealing with having no friends and all the neighbors moving away because of what her house has become.

Then, to add insult to injury, Sophia's mom dies. Sophia is then sent to St. Mary's, which is a pretty strict Catholic school. There, Sophia hopes for a chance of normalcy and a chance to make new friends. But alas, it is not in the cards for Sophia. Jude, a boy she meets at the school, thinks the only way to save Sophia is an exorcism. That's about all I will say for the plot. I don't wanna spoil it for you guys.

It was just so crazy! I really am awful at expressing how I feel. I literally felt so bad for Sophia. She is trying so hard to be good and fix things in her life and it just all comes tumbling down. Danielle Vega truly is the Stephen King of YA. I am currently writing this in a dark home and I am ever so slightly freaked out because of how well she writes.

The insta love was a bit off putting. But it contributed to the story in a very important way so I couldn't even be that mad about it. I love that this was also in first person. You truly get a sense of how scared Sophia is. You feel the pain that she feels. You struggle with her as she tries to chose the Light.

I have to also rave about the cover. It is just so gorgeous! I read this from the hardback and ugh, it's so damn beautiful. The gold just really makes this book pop. It feels like a Bible, which is highly ironic considering what happens in this book.

I really recommend this series to everybody but only if you can handle horror and violence. There is very detailed and graphic violence depicted in this book and in the first one. It makes you question everything you know about God, life, the Light side, the Dark side. It will make you wonder if there is evil in all of us?