Actual rating: 2.5 stars 
 This is a difficult review to write. Most of the things I want to talk about (good and bad) involve giving away huge spoilers. Once has a pretty big plot twist early in the story - one that I'm almost ashamed to admit I didn't see coming - making it close to impossible for me to adequately express my thoughts. But I'm going to try really hard to give a nice little run down of the book without ruining it for you. 
 Once picks up a few months after the events in Eve and our protagonist finds herself miserable in Califi, missing both Caleb and Arden. In this installment Eve, despite her best efforts, ends up in the King's clutches in the Sand City. There she is reunited with Caleb and members of the trail, who is now a wanted man for murder of New American soldiers. However, this doesn't seem to deter Eve and Caleb from stealing moments away together. But little does she know that the King has other plans for her. Big plans. 
 As always, I'd like to start with the good. I was really looking forward to reading Once due to the crafty little cliffhanger at the end of Eve. I hate that nagging feeling of needing to know how things end because it bothers me over and over until I know. Thankfully, I got to find out my burning question of why the King wanted Eve so badly within the first 20% of the novel. Yay for me, but boo for you since you'll be reading a review where I attempt to skate around all the plot twists and revelations this book seemed to be chock-full of. One thing that I really liked about Once was the setting. The City of Sand is in essence a restored Las Vegas and I could definitely visualize the different locations. Carey succeeds at painting the mental image of the city and bringing it to life. I expected no less considering I did enjoy Carey's writing in Eve. I also felt myself warming up to Eve this time around too. That is partly due to her making a better attempt at helping the friends she left behind and showing more concern for others. 
 Unfortunately, I didn't quite enjoy this one as much as I did Eve, but I think that is mainly because I connected with the minor characters, who for the most part, are absent in Once. (I missed the dugout boys!) Instead we are introduced to a few newbies including the King, Beatrice (Eve's maid), and members of the trail. But most of the novel focuses on Eve and her constant struggle to break free from the hold the King has on her. And while I did start to warm up with her, after a while I found her actions to be a little too reckless (as they were in Eve) and I started feeling genuinely frustrated with both her and Caleb. It almost seemed like their decisions were intentionally poor just to move the plot in the direction Carey wanted it. For example, when Eve sneaks out the palace to meet Caleb, she's very concerned that he may get caught, but Caleb shrugs all concerns off. I understand that some teenagers feel invincible, but this felt like he didn't have any common sense. That surprised me because he seemed like a smarter character in Eve. He was much more cautious, but here I found him throwing all caution he used to have to the wind. By the end, he was practically flaunting a sign around his neck that read, "HERE I AM!" 
 Despite my bigger disappointments with this installment, I didn't hate it and did find myself enjoying the interesting relationship between Eve and the King. And c'mon, that ending! I felt like Carey and HarperCollins punk'd me when I went to turn the page and all I saw was: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Cruel, I tell you! 
 I'd recommend this book to fans of the first book, Eve. But if you disliked Eve, chances are Once will have little to offer you. 
 ARC was provided by HarperCollins via Edelweiss. Thank you! 
 *cough* Signed giveaway for Eve on the blog! 
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