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You can find it here if you missed my last review on Made In Malice.
Hi guys, gals, and non-binary pals. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Before we get into it, I want to correct a mistake from the Made In Malice article. I said this was a completed trilogy. I was mistaken. The third book, Honed In Havoc, is due to come out on January 18th, 2024, so in a few days. I apologize for the misinformation. Now, back to Created In Chaos.
So, in book two, we pick up right where we left off: Nova is going to the hospital, and Rory and Astrid are following, but Nox and Lucian beat the grandparents there. Nova is badly hurt. She suffered broken ribs, brain swelling, broken fingers, and heavy bruising. She ended up in a coma-like state. The guys stay with her around the clock, waiting for her to wake up. Rory and Astrid, her grandparents, don’t come to see her at all.
When Nova does wake up, it isn’t long before she is released. Not that very day, but not long. She thought she would be going back to her grandparents’ place, but Lucian and Nox insisted she stay with them. They worry that she is in danger. Not only from whoever’s attack she survived but also from her grandparents.
Nova’s grandparents seek to control her to keep their family’s power. Since she is the sole heir to the family name and fortune and, therefore, power, she must learn their ways, at least in their mind. Lucian and Nox, on the other hand, while they know she is a powerful pawn and once sought to either get rid of her or manipulate her, now care for her and wish to protect her. Dare I say they love her? I think Nox will grapple with this less than Nova and especially Lucian.
The danger surrounding Nova is hidden, but you can feel it building. For some reason, Nova’s grandparents are pretty hands-off for needing her so badly. They still haven’t told her much about her mother, nor have they made any effort to get to know her. In her time with the twins, neither Astrid nor Rory have made any attempt to see how she is doing. I wish we could learn more about Nova’s mother and father.
I think keeping the grandparents at the edge of the scenes, for the most part, makes the times they are front and center add to the book’s tension. There are significant periods where the pressure is different. Where the danger is, the stress makes you read faster. It’s tight. The other tension, the sexual tension, however, is looser, and you slow down to savor it. Ms. Walker did an excellent job with this. Remember that I said in my article about book one that there is potential for spicy scenes? Well, we got those spicy scenes. Since this is a reverse harem book, there are some scenes that involve all three of them.
There is definite violence in this book. It isn’t overly violent. When I say violence, I mean death and guns, not just the beating that Nova was the survivor of in the first book. There is the promise of more death to come in the next book.
This book dealt quite a bit with the growing forbidden relationship between Nova, Lucian, and Nox, so I felt that some of what was going on with the grandparents, counsel, and all the shady dealings fell by the wayside. I still maintain that Albany did fantastic with the tension and emotional ups and downs, and keep you reading. I just wish I knew more of the mystery.
I also wish I knew more about the twins’ personal demons. I know their parents died and that they blame the Umbras. They are grieving in their own ways but not doing well. Lucian is in the anger stage and hasn’t moved beyond it. Nox, on the other hand, feels personally responsible and is suicidal because of it. We have acknowledged it, but are we going to address it? Are we going to address Lucian’s anger? I think it should be, maybe, in the final book.
I am excited for the final book. I have to know the end. If you have read the first one or this one and want to continue, don’t forget that book three, Honed In Havoc, comes out on January 18th. Have you read Made In Malice Or Created In Chaos? Or anything else by Albany Walker? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
