Rogue by Julie Kagawa

Deserter. Traitor. ROGUE. Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant. Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George. A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day...or start an all-out war?

Book two picks up where Talon left off, with Ember on the run with Riley, Garrett in trouble with St George, and Dante getting ever deeper into Talon's organisation. Ember convinces Riley to help her with a near-suicidal attempt to rescue Garrett from St George's firing squad, then all of them are on the run, with both St George and Talon closing in. They run to Las Vegas, hiding in plain sight as it were, while Riley can check in with sources and plan his next move for his underground organisation.

This installment was much more action-packed than book one; just as fun and fascinating to read but much more on the line. There were also odd chapters with Cobalt's back story, which was really interesting. We saw how Agent Cobalt became Riley the runaway and what happened that forced him to attack Talon and undermine their authority with hatchlings. We also had some progression with Ember and Garrett, as poor Ember is trying to balance her dragon and human side, Riley pulling her one way, Garrett the other. Honestly, I'm not sure how she should choose, both bring out different sides to her; I mean, I like Riley but I like Ember more when she's with Garrett but he's human! Ah, it's a conundrum! 

Like I said, much more heart-stopping action in this one, it was straight in the deep end of lies, traitors and backstabbing, plus we were exposed to more of the horror that Talon is capable of. Seriously, with them all on the run, Talon had a lot more to lose and apparently more to willingly sacrifice. What they did to innocent hatchlings, warping their minds, especially Dante, really drove home what the right thing to do was for Ember. Plus that cliffhanger really left things hanging - my God, how cruel is that? I need my hands on the next book asap please!

Published 7th May 2015 by Mira Ink. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.