Review: Sleepless Vol. 2 - Sarah Vaughn & Leila del Duca

Nearly a year later in the court of Harbeny, Lady Poppy and Sir Cyrenic must forge ahead without each other. Cyrenic adjusts to life after being released from the Sleepless Vow. And though Poppy has allies old and new, she buckles under the pressure to marry Lord Helder. The future looks bleak, but both Poppy and Cyrenic are fighters. Either they will claw their way out of the darkness, or take as many enemies with them as they can. This second volume of SLEEPLESS concludes the story of Poppy and Cyrenic.

Collects SLEEPLESS #7-11

Collects issues 1-6.

Sleepless Series:
Sleepless Vol. 1
Sleepless Vol. 2

Visit Sarah Vaughan's website for more information

Review:
This volume picks up Poppy and Cyrenic's story about a year on from where the previous one ended. Cyrenic has been asleep that whole time ever since Poppy released him from his vow while she has been stuck dealing with court politics and trying to prevent a forced marriage to Lord Helder. Now as her wedding draws near and Cyrenic finally wakes up everything is in the balance.

After really enjoying the first book in this series I had high hopes for the sequel so I hate to say it but I was kind of disappointed. Most of the things I loved about the first volume are still there, the diverse characters and the beautiful artwork are the same but the plotting felt kind of rushed. I didn't realise that this was the final volume and to be honest I think it needed just one more, it felt like the authors had to rush through everything to fit it into two books and if there had been three they would have had time to flesh out things like the court intrigue and especially the romance.

It wasn't that this book was bad, its just having seen what the author and artist accomplished with volume one I know they could have ended this series so much better.

Source: Received from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Sleepless Vol. 1 - Sarah Vaughn & Leila del Duca

Amazon Book Review’s Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2018
The Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books 2018

Lady "Poppy" Pyppenia is guarded by the Sleepless Knight Cyrenic but becomes endangered when an assassin threatens her life in the new king's reign. As Poppy and Cyrenic try to discover who wants her dead, they must navigate the dangerous waters of life at court and of their growing feelings for one another. Writer Sarah Vaughn (ALEX + ADA, ETERNAL EMPIRE) and artist Leila del Duca (SHUTTER, AFAR) team up with editor / colorist Alissa Sallah and letterer Deron Bennett for this fantasy romance.

Collects issues 1-6.

Sleepless Series:
Sleepless Vol. 1
Sleepless Vol. 2

Visit Sarah Vaughan's website for more information

Review:
Poppy is the daughter of the former king and now that her uncle has been crowned her place in court is very precarious. She may be the old king's illegitimate child but in her mother's distant land she is still considered a princess and therefore has a lot of support, something the new king is not very happy about. Forced to stay at the court by her uncle the only person she can truly rely on is her Sleepless Knight Cyrenic, a man pledged to protect her for the rest of his life. Poppy just wants to keep her head down until she can be reunited with her mother but when an assassin attacks she quickly realises that life in court is far more dangerous than ever before.

This was a really fabulous start to the Sleepless series, I'm intrigued by the characters and the court politics and I really want to know more about the Sleepless Knights and how they survive with no sleep. Poppy and Cyrenic are great characters and I love the hint of tension between them, the sparks are definitely starting to fly and I hope they can find a way to be together in spite of the taboo status of a relationship between them.

We are never overloaded with too much background and history so this story was a very easy read, I still have a lot of questions about things but I'm sure they will be answered slowly throughout the series. Leila del Duca's artwork is gorgeous, she uses lots of bright and bold colours that make her drawings really eye-catching and it fits Sarah Vaughn's story perfectly. I have to give the series bonus points for the diversity too. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series.

Source: Received from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle: