4.5 stars 
 I can't tell her there are some wounds that can't be mended. Yet we carry them with us, hoping for a chance that maybe someday, someone can fix them. 
 I can't be fixed. 
 Affliction may have been better than the first book in the series. But at the end, I can't really decide and don't want to pick favorites. 
 Because of the way Sy and Holly's story overlaps Nix and Kadence, readers of the first book have seen bits and pieces of Sy and Holly develop from an outsider's perspective. Now seeing it from the inside made it that much more appealing and I can't help but think the overlapping storylines also made each individual story more compelling. These stories are not happening within a vacuum. 
 Sy's backstory is heartbreaking. From the bit revealed in the prologue I hurt for the pain he had been through. As more of the story came out during the course of nightmares and flashbacks through the rest of the story, my heartbreak only deepened for the quiet, serious man. 
 Holly had her own walls to knock down. Walls that weren't there when Sy and Holly met, and were erected as a result of events that were introduced in Incandescent and changed her utterly and completely. 
 I loved them together. Holly's sass and fire, combined with Sy's quiet, intenseness was a powerful combination, both for working through their individual walls and for watching the sparks fly physically. 
 There is great continuation of Nix and Kadence's storyline, all through the eyes of Sy and Holly but lacking none of the closeness to be expected from them. I loved the way the rest of the club members were included in the storyline, both revealing more about them as individuals and as a family organization. 
 I can't wait for Jesse's story. Though there is little revealed about what to expect, there is enough about his family situation hinted at that there has to be a deep story there and I can't wait to watch the man-whore fall. And bits and pieces of Beau have been hinted at as well, with what I hope is a glimpse at the woman he falls for. But even if it is not the woman I hope it is, his story promises to be an emotional one as well. 
 This was darker than Incandescent. But with the issues Holly and Sy have to overcome that is to be expected. I had tears in the corners of my eyes that didn't hit me in the first book, but overwhelmed me in this story. 
 I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.