Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Call of the Crow (Skyborn #2) by Jessica Khoury.

If I hadn't liked Sparrow Rising (Skyborn #1) so much, I would have DNFed Crow early on. I really wish I had.

In Sparrow, there were a few all too convenient coincidences. I didn't like them, but it was only a couple of them, and the trilogy is meant for kids, so... But in Crow, they were nonstop.

Plot-wise, Crow really didn't work for me either:

In Sparrow, Ellie (a sparrow-girl) wanted to become a knight. She met Nox (crow-boy), who was a thief. The two of them grew and changed together.

In Crow, there was this whole thing about the two of them saving the world. Plus Nox was actually the last prince of a whole entire race of birds (phoenix-people).

The first book felt wonderfully personal, the second one was just a big, unbelievable thing.

I will give the author credit, the second book was as dark as the first one. Near the end of Crow, Nox "died" (I never for a single second believed he was really dead), but I'm sure young readers would buy it.

I should have DNFed the book, but I kept hoping it would be better.

I already own the third and final book, and it got pretty good reviews, so I guess I might give it a try.

Edit: I never see the book cover until I make my review post, and man I really hate the covers they've used on this series. They're so bright and seem aimed at really young kids, they don't reflect the stories within at all.