Hello everyone and welcome back to another review here at The Bibliophagist!! I am very excited because last year I read the book The Path Keeper by N.J. Simmonds and I fell in love. This was a new idea for me, YA+ books. I completely fell in love with her story but mostly her characters! And she left me hanging…I needed the second book.

Be sure to check out the other stops along the way of this amazing blog tour!

Wait no more! It is here!!!! Let’s get a little more information about the author before we begin.

I could not get enough of the first book and was overjoyed to see Zac and Ella again! But oh my did my heart break so many times in this book. Three years have passed since Ella watched Zac die. Yet, life has still not felt normal…he has not come back and she is still waiting, her life on hold. Just when she starts to feel comfortable with a new life that she never thought she’d have with someone she tried to avoid, once again, life is tossed in the air. We all know how that feels.

I have to start with the characters… Simmonds builds such in-depth characters. I love that the reader is reintroduced to these characters and their point of view, but we learn more about each one. We really get to know Josh for who he is rather than how people see him. I really didn’t enjoy Josh as a character int he first book…I hated him actually. He gets his redemption in this one and that is all I’ll say. He tells his story to Ella and we really get to understand who he is. Sebastian is still as evil as ever. He finds a new way to try and get his revenge in the second book…but will he? I guess you need to read this to find out! I still despise him. A new character appears as well but I can’t tell you about them! I hated them at first but that grew into understanding and compassion. And Zac….we see him struggle with going after what he wants or what he knows he should. Will he let destiny unfold or intervein? (Pssst….read the book! I loved it!)

We also learn more about Ella and her struggle to move on in her life without Zac. I think many of us can relate to that. We feel we are meant to be with someone but it doesn’t work out. Sometimes that loss of a relationship can be something we struggle with and it isn’t always addressed in novels. We need to address how sometimes it feels like you can’t move on with your life as if you are going to stand still waiting for that person to come back when they won’t. Or, the fact that sometimes someone from your past does come back when you thought you’d finally settled and you realize that you are not happy where you are. Relationships are complicated and I love that this story really dives into that. I truly love Ella’s character but at times I wanted her to just stand up and move on but I felt her pain. The author does a wonderful job of pulling you into this world, making you relate to the characters.

My favorite part of this entire novel was the flashback sections between Zack and Ella in past lives. The detailed historical events show the author did their research when looking into building this complex past that transcended through time. I loved seeing how in every life, they seemed to find each other and fight the odds to be together. At the same time, I wish that we’d seen more of the relationship between Ella and Josh evolve. There was so much I wanted to see that I felt at times was rushed rather than naturally unfolding. There is great chemistry between the characters but I feel at times it lacked the proper maturity time. We need to see more of how they grow together. This just seemed a little rushed compared to the relationship between Zac and Ella. Then again, we had an entire novel to see that relationship grow and develop.

I will say this, you need to really read the first book before reading this one. Without it, you can’t comprehend the full atmosphere or backstory of this novel. So if you haven’t read the first book…go get your copy today but buy the second one with it because you’ll want to continue reading right after!!