Actual Rating 4.5 stars 
 Review: 
 Protagonist: So going over my review of Dualed, I realized that I didn't like West all that much in the first book. Going into this second book however, I was oblivious to this fact and gave West a honest to God second chance, and I have to say I really like West in this second installment. She's the kick-ass character that I wanted her to be in the first book and she does what needs to be done to not only protect those she loves but on the lesser note, herself as well. While West didn't have the largest of developments in this book it really worked for her and the plot as a whole that she subtly grew throughout the book. 
 Romance: So while the romance in this book is fairly steady throughout, it's not an overshadowing entity that tries to drive the book along when the plot falters. In fact it's because the plot never really falters that the romance works as well as it does. There isn't really any growth in the romance, but instead it's tested and strengthened throughout the book, with minimal drama to the relationship which is a skill in and of itself. I really loved the bond between Chord and West as the try to sort out and move through their lives together. 
 World-Building: Yes! This is exactly what I needed from the previous book in the series. While reading the first installment to this series it had all the markers of a dystopian, but it never delved into the world all that much and in fact barely had any of the formulaic markers of a dystopian apart from the setting. In this book however things begin to go down and really pick up. We learn about the beginning days of Kersch and begin to uncover the secrets of this dystopian city that they don't want getting out. 
 Predictability: As the synopsis says this book has some major twists to it. While there was some predictability gleaned from foreshadowing elements the majority of the book was fairly unpredictable. Let's start off with West's ghost from the past, now I'm not going to give away who it is but I will say that I have no freaking idea how I would have ever possible guessed who it is. I mean, no way whatsoever, and so when it was revealed I was shocked into silence. There are a few other moments like this in the book, none quite that stunning but some came very, very close. 
 Ending: So I'd heard rumors that this "series" is in fact a duology, which kind of makes sense from a marketing perspective. In a world where there's two of everyone, a two book series seems rather fitting. However, I sincerely hope there is more to this series, mainly because the ending of this book seems to have a very large cliffhanger attached to it. I say seems because maybe the author didn't mean for it to be a cliffhanger, but trust me it's a cliffhanger. Also, there's still so much left out in the open, there's so much that I want to know that I not only want at least one more book, but I NEED it. 
 Rating: 
 So, I never in a million years thought I would give this book THIS high of a rating, and it only didn't get 5 stars because it was kind of slow in some parts and went too fast in others, but I did. Trust me, for those who either didn't like the first book or were like me where I liked it but didn't think it was anything special, this book makes reading the first one so worth it. It's magnificent and like I said above I NEED at least one more sequel to tie up the loose ends of this book.