© ✰ Bianca ✰
• 1 August 2023
• Book #2 in the #BrightestStars Trilogy
• Military-coming-of-age-dramance 
A bond this strong can’t stay broken.
Life near the army base at Fort Benning, Georgia, might be
small, but it’s safe. That suits Karina Fischer just fine. She knows letting
anyone get close to her means she could get hurt, and she’s had enough of that
in her almost twenty-one years to last a lifetime. The only man she’s ever let
in, Kael Martin, betrayed her trust before they could find their way together.
She can’t forgive him for what he’s done, but letting go still feels
impossible.
Kael Martin’s scars run deep, but the mark Karina left on him
is deeper. He can’t get her out of his mind or his heart. He’s ready to start
fresh, adjust to civilian life, and build a future outside of the Army—one he hopes could include Karina, because
their spark, while it burned, was unforgettable.
Now, just when it seems their world is crumbling and can’t be
put back together, circumstances force them to confront what they can’t deny:
the volatile, passionate, all-consuming love they can’t live without.
Karina
and Kael's unlikely love story, which began in THE FALLING, grows deeper and
even more intense in THE BURNING, the second book in the Brightest Stars
trilogy.
Finally back with Kael and Karina.
It's only been two weeks since she found out that her twin brother is enlisting in the army. And even worse for Karina, that Kael knew and helped him with things and didn't say a word about it to her. She will never be able to forgive him for that.
Or will she?
She can't stop thinking about him....
What will happen with Karina & Kael?
WILL THERE BE A HAPPILY EVER AFTER???
BUY THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!
Even though you won't yet find out - but book #3 will be with us ... one day sooni....sh.
Well. That was a bit better than the first book.
I still like Kael and Karina. But I also don't like them for so many things.
They're so young but they're already in the middle of their lives, their jobs, their adultness, but especially Karina is so very naive and immature at the same time. No idea why and how!
And what already bothered me about the first book is back again... Elodie!
Why is she?
In the book? It's Kael's and Karina's love story. Austin - the twin - has a right to be in here a lot... I can live with that - even though it's way too much about him too.
But Elodie? She doesn't make any sense.
She destroys the whole love story between K+K because she needs too much screen/page time. Which she totally deserves - she's great - but only if this was her own book.
We barely get any Kael and Karina love story because of so many distractions in their lives. I hated that. Especially the end of the book. Ugh.
Another thing I don't love. The whole military thing. That's such a typical and only American thing. German people or so many others won't have any connection or feelings towards all that. The way American readers will. It's a bit too American for my tastes. Maybe if this whole story would've taken place in an international setting. Like on a US base in Germany, Italy wherever. That way we might've loved it a bit more.
I still liked reading this second book.
But I also fast-forwarded a lot at times. Like in the first book, there's so much redundant stuff in here. No idea why Anna felt she had to fill this series with so much stuff. At least this time there are a few interesting scenes and locations and happenings. But still - the book is too long and uneventful.
One single book with a great love story and some drama and whatnot would've been so amazing! But alas here we are - with three way too long books - with waayy too long to wait between books!
I will definitely read the final book. But I don't think this will ever become a favorite series of mine!
But I also have hope that Anna will come up with a new amazing book idea one day soon.
Now that she's living all happy and healthy and Avocado-y in LA! 🤣
THE BURNING was a great second book in Kael + Karina's love story. There's still so much more to tell. GIMME book #3!
↓ Links to the Book & Author ↓
Book #1
#AFTER
Anna Todd
(writer/producer/influencer) is the New York Times best-selling author of the
After Series and The Falling. Always an avid reader, Todd began writing stories
on her phone through Wattpad with After becoming its most-read series with over
two billion reads. The print edition of After was published in 2014. It has
since been released in over thirty-five languages and has sold more than twelve
million copies worldwide―becoming a #1 bestseller in several countries. She has
served as a producer and screenwriter on the film adaptations of After and
After We Collided. A native of Ohio, Anna and her family live in Los Angeles.
