After the events in The Abyss Surrounds Us, Cas Leung is still struggling with her place on the Minnow. Keeping away from Swift and constantly being under Santa Elena’s eye is one thing, but suddenly rogue Reckoners, dubbed Hellbeasts, begin attacking ships. Cas and the crew of the Minnow must work to figure out how to fight them before the entire NeoPacific biosystem is destroyed.

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Why this book?: TASU is one of my favorite books ever. I needed the sequel.

I would like to thank the people at Flux for allowing me to have an ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Everything I’ve ever wanted

With The Abyss Surrounds Us being a new instant favorite, I had high hopes for The Edge of the Abyss. I was constantly worried that I would be disappointed, as is often with amazing first books.

Skrutskie does not disappoint.

She gave us more of everything. More action. More sea monsters. More pirates. More women loving women. More character development.

Something I was grateful for was the quick briefing at the beginning that reminded readers of what happened in TASU. It was included in a way that was natural, so it didn’t feel like the author was giving you a summary to renew your memory, but more like the character was having an inner-monologue with herself about how she got into the situation. Cas’s character development from the first book to this one is astounding, and you can see and understand every step of it. Same thing with Swift and the other characters–so many of them get so much more development.

Santa Elena was barely in the first one except for her key appearances, but you really get to know her in this last book. She’s a horrible person, but you get hooked on her with how intricate and amazing her character is, and it’s near addicting.

Intense to the very end

I also adored the plot for this one. While it doesn’t really line up with TASU’s plot, it still connects in a way that doesn’t make it feel random. In fact, the events in TASU affect what happens in TEOTA greatly, and so many events come rocking back to the surface as if these books were not two, but one.

The entire book was important–either to the plot or to the characters. When the characters weren’t being developed, the plot was being pushed along. One of those things were always happening, with never a boring part in this book to be seen. In fact, I literally only have one complaint about this book, because I was so overjoyed with the rest of this book.

TASU’s ending had so much action and it was honestly my favorite literary scene from the moment I read it. TEOTA was just as amazing . . . if it hadn’t been cut off randomly. I seriously wanted to see the interactions that would have lead up to the actual conclusion, but it was sadly cut out and there was an odd time skip that didn’t sit well with me. Despite this, I really didn’t drop my rating any lower, because the entire rest of the book made up for this small fact.

 Final Rating: ★★★★★

Overall?

The Edge of the Abyss was probably one of my favorite sequels ever to sequel. There was so much character development and dynamic and the plot was amazing and that twist at the end literally had me screaming at 9 at night. Skurtskie is an expert mood-crafter, and I am jealous of her talent. She will forever be an auto-buy author. I don’t care what else she writes. I’ll buy it.

Would I Recommend?

Yes. If you read and loved The Abyss Surrounds Us, then you’ll love The Edge of the Abyss just as much. This is a very solid and diverse duology to support, and it has an amazing ending that doesn’t disappoint (too much).

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Additional Information:

Published: April 18, 2017

Publisher: Flux

Page Count: 296

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy/YA

Synopsis: via Goodreads

Three weeks have passed since Cassandra Leung pledged her allegiance to the ruthless pirate-queen Santa Elena and set free Bao, the sea monster Reckoner she’d been forced to train. The days as a pirate trainee are long and grueling, but it’s not the physical pain that Cas dreads most. It’s being forced to work with Swift, the pirate girl who broke her heart.

But Cas has even bigger problems when she discovers that Bao is not the only monster swimming free. Other Reckoners illegally sold to pirates have escaped their captors and are taking the NeoPacific by storm, attacking ships at random and ruining the ocean ecosystem. As a Reckoner trainer, Cas might be the only one who can stop them. But how can she take up arms against creatures she used to care for and protect?

Will Cas embrace the murky morals that life as a pirate brings or perish in the dark waters of the NeoPacific?