Title: Branded
Author: Eric Smith
Series: Inked #2
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Genre: YA Fantasy
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
source: NetGalley

Eric Smith returns to the world of Inked in this adventurous new sequel. No longer a sheltered farmboy, Caenum is caught in the crossfire of the rebellion he ignited. As the final battle with the Citadel approaches, he must choose his own destiny one last time…or let the Citadel choose it for him.

I loved Inked, so when I heard there was a sequel I was very excited to continue this story. Unfortunately, this story fell way flat for me. Although it kept me interested enough at the time to continue reading it, even now trying to write this review I find that I'm having a hard time even remembering what happened.

The story starts a few months after the ending of the first. Caenum is leading the rebellion, and they are going from town to town, spreading the rebellion and freeing the conduits. Unfortunately, nothing really happened? Inked set up for some great worldbuilding, but that wasn't really expanded on in this one, which was some really wasted potential.

The other thing was that I was kind of confused on the rebels and what was going on with them. I kind of felt like no one was really...doing anything? Also the prejudice against Inked/unInked/whatever was really confusing. They hated you if you had Ink, but they also hated you if you didn't?? Huh?? Whatever the difference may have been, it wasn't explained well.

While this was a quick read, it ultimately felt like a let down. Although I will continue to read more of Eric's work, as I think he has potential and a great writing style, this one was a no from me.

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