About 18 months ago I joined a website called Blogging for Books, which, in a nutshell, is a site where you can request books for free in order to review them on your blog. As an avid reader I was like, hook me up! And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with them ever since.

The very first book I received to review was City of Stairs. As I was searching through the books to select one to order, I was drawn to this one. You can read my review of that one here, but suffice it to say, I LOVED this book. It was weird and not in my usual comfort zone at all, but it was fascinating and so well written that I fell in love.

So, naturally, when I hopped on Blogging For Books last month, and saw that the sequel, City of Blades, was available, well, I had to have it. And I loved it. The first chapter or two was a little hard for me, as I had to get my head back into the language, characters, history, and location of the books (which is completely new and awesome, but strange) but as soon as I was able to do that, I flew through the book and finished it in about 36 hours. I couldn’t put it down (sorry, kids and husband).

*Spoilers, for sure, as far as the first book, City of Stairs goes, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to see them coming from a mile away if you read the book, plus it’s not really what happens, but how it happens that you would want to have kept secret.

The basis of City of Stairs is this: 6 gods, or Divinities, used to watch over and rule the Continent, and with their power, the people of the Continent enslaved the people of Saypur. However, 75 years ago, a Saypuri man, the Kaj, killed the Divinities, and the roles of those two countries were switched. Now, the Saypuri government is in charge, and the once grand city of Bulikov is in ruins. BUT then someone is murdered and strange things start to happen… Are the Divinities really dead? If not, they must be killed. Again.

So then we have City of Blades, which takes place 5 years after City of Stairs. Again, there is a disappearance and more Divine things are happening — except the Divinities were really killed 5 years ago, right? Right. But then how and why are these strange things happening again?

City of Blades takes what happened in City of Stairs and builds upon it. Some of the characters are the same, and some new ones are introduced. Technically, City of Blades is a sequel, but I think you would be able to read it without having read City of Stairs… But it might not be as interesting or make as much sense. But you could still do it.

I highly recommend these books! They are so unique, and wonderfully written. Oh, and just as a fair warning, there are quite a few F-words in these books.

I received free product from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
All opinions are my own.