Review of Circle of Death (Damask Circle #2)

Circle of Death, the second installment of the Damask Circle series, is a bit of a step up from the first, but with a great deal of similarities. The main characters, Doyle and Kirby, are similar to Maddie and Jon in many ways. Doyle is a bit of a rogue, but more smitten and more committed than Kirby to a budding romance. Very similar to Jon's character. Kirby is afraid of her power as Maddie was and had also killed with it, making her reluctant to use it again. It seems she, like Maddie, used her power to protect herself and other young girls from an abuser. The story seemed a bit smoother than Circle of Fire. The romance angle still far-fetched, but the ending was a lot less ridiculous. We also got to learn a bit more about what the Damask Circle actually is in this book. Still not terribly well crafted, as was my complaint from the first book. Mariel, the bad guy, wasn't very scary. Certainly less so than the abundant evil creatures in this story, eating brains and the like. Better, but not great. ARC provided by Netgalley