River of Wrath
by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor
4.5/5 stars
Read dates: 2.1.2023 to 2.6.2023
Pub Date: 1.31.2023
ARC Review
If you saw my review of River of Ashes on January 24th, you're probably wondering why the heck I'm reviewing book number two of the St. Benedict series. I won't lie, I was shocked myself.
After posting the review of River of Ashes, I was somehow added to the group chat on Instagram for the ARC review tour of River of Wrath. I'm not officially on the tour schedule and I'm not exactly sure why I was added to the group, but I'm glad I was in the end. Being accidentally added led me to message asking what was going on (confused, much?) and I had the PR rep for the series message me personally. She was super sweet and even said that if I felt that book number one fell flat, maybe book two wasn't for me. She asked what I felt was not executed well in book one and, after telling her, she offered that maybe what I was looking for would be explained or described better in the subsequent books and then sent me the ARC of River of Wrath to give it a try.
Not going to lie, I jumped right in because when I look back at River of Ashes, that ending made me want more. So I contradicted myself. Sorry, not sorry!
Let me just tell you, I am so glad she reached out and consequently sent me the ARC. This may be one of my favorite series if it continues going in the trajectory that it is. Another favorite series of mine, the Carly Moore series by Denise Grover Swank, started similarly where I wasn't all that impressed with book one but I was also hooked and kept reading.
(Yes, if you go back and look at my goodreads ratings for book one of Carly Moore, it is 5 stars but, you guys, I was a baby bookstagrammer then and I gave everything 5 stars if it actually held my interest lol)
So, what made me like book two better than book one? I honestly think the lack of Beau's perverted and psychotic mind and the character development of Leslie is what did it for me. Also, the repetitiveness of setting descriptions was gone. I think the setting descriptions got a bit redundant in the first book, but there is none of that in this one.
There are new characters introduced, you get a better look into Gage's and the Devereaux's pasts, and you start to see how each victim is coping, or not. Nothing is really wrapped up but there are new discoveries and situations that definitely leave you wanting more and thinking what the actual f*$#?
I originally rated this one 4 stars but literally three days later, I couldn't stop thinking that I sold it short so I upped it to 4.5. Why 4.5 and not 5? Five-star books are reserved for ones that I love but ALSO make me feel strong emotions and this one didn't do that. I didn't cry, yell, or laugh but it was still so so good!
I definitely look forward to reading the rest of the series and can't wait for book three!
“When someone seems perfect, chances are they’re far from it. Perfect is an act meant to deceive.”
Thank you to @katieandbreypa @vesuvianmedia @alexandreaweis and @lucasastorauthor for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review!
Gorgeous cover art by @mistersamshearon
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