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A little disappointed in myself for not giving Spark four stars so that I could top that with five for Stray because let me tell you; Stray tops that. Review below also appears at .

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Sequels are tricky. They are tricky because you're not just trying to impress a new audience, you're trying to keep the one you already have. Intentions have changed because the reader knows the characters, they know the setting, and consequently there is more room for plot.

Personally, I love sequels, or at the very least I love the idea of them. There are a lot of series where the second book just didn't grab me in any way (for example the Scorch Trials caused me to lose interest in the entire series and the Chamber of Secrets is still by far my least favourite Harry Potter book) but then you look at series that just get better and better with each book (Throne of Glass series anyone?)...

This is one of those series. My immediate thought upon finishing Stray was actually to wonder if it would be terrible to go back and change my review of Spark to four stars just so that I could highlight how much better Stray is (Rachael has forbidden me to do this and we all know authors are delicate and prone to hysterics* so I'd better not distress her). My follow up thoughts were all on the theme of emotional devastation because RACHAEL CRAW IS A SADIST.

Spark introduced us to the newly superpowered Evie who just wants to behave like a teenager and not be responsible for things all the time, it introduced us to Kitty aka the cutest person on the planet and it introduced us to Jamie 'Hot Stuff' Gallagher who is nice to look at but occasionally says or does stupid things because he is A Boy�. In Stray we get to know them all so much better and I was particularly thrilled by the amount of time spent with Kitty! Besties are important you guys, and as previously mentioned... Kitty is the cutest.

This is an intense book, and I mean that in the sense that the action just keeps coming. Emotionally devastating action at that and honestly if you escape this book without even being just a little bit devastated emotionally I don't think we can be friends. (It's probable that a friend of mine has asked if it's possible to sue an author for such emotional devastation.)

Unfortunately... because this is a sequel and I really don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read Spark or hasn't made it to Stray yet I can't get too much into detail without my sentences looking like mail from 1941 as I agonise over the part where [redacted] was in the room with [redacted] and as a consequence [redacted] [redacted] and I wanted to scream. So I will say this; Stray might just be a perfect sequel. It finds new ways for us to love the series and the characters and as a story it's just so much stronger than its predecessor.

If you're new to the series now is the perfect time to pick it up, you can yell at me later.

*What do you mean that's just me?