Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff

I absolutely fell in love with the world that Kristoff created in Stormdancer so I had been counting the days until this one came and out and it was worth the wait. There is also a world of difference between the two books. This is a much, much darker story than Stormdancer. On his website it says, "He does not believe in happy endings," and he has really taken that to heart in Kinslayer. There was a sense of hope throughout the first book but this one has none of that. It is devastating to all the main characters - there are a couple of new story lines added - and just so very sad. I had to take breaks while reading it cause it was just doom and gloom for every character I had grown to love, especially Yukiko. I don't mean that as a negative, I think it's a credit to Kristoff that that I feel such an emotional connection with world he has build.
It picks up right after the events of the first book. There was a really helpful refresher (Thank you Jay!) that helped remind me where we left off with each character . Some are dead, some are surprisingly not so dead and some are gonna be dead very soon. Yukiko has been emotionally and physically changed because of the events of the first book and there are some surprises in that respect. I didn't particularly love some of these surprises but I can see he has bigger plans for the characters.
Overall its fast paced with plenty of bloodshed and mayhem to keep the story moving. I will say this; do not get attached to anyone because shifting loyalties is an ongoing theme in this series and is part of what made it a great read. I don't know how he will wrap this all up in one book but I have faith in Kristoff. Fingers crossed it doesn't end with Yukiko dead and me bawling. Yay to another year of waiting!