Lark Greene tries to sort through the events of her rescue from Summer Hill and from the Light Witches who held her there as she struggled to control her newfound Dark magic. What she remembers isn't what everyone is telling her really happened. Lark doesn't know who to trust and she certainly can't trust herself. Her Dark magic is growing and she's a threat to everyone around her until she can learn to control it. But using her Dark powers will only draw Lark deeper into the complex and treacherous world of the State. Uncertain of her future, her growing powers, and who to trust, Lark struggles to hold on to the one part of her life that makes sense; Beck and his love.

NIGHTINGALE by Dawn Rae Miller is the second book in the Sensitives Series and picks up directly after Lark's devastating rescue from Summer Hill at the end of Larkstorm. These are not stand alone books. In order to understand Lark's confusion and much of the actions in NIGHTINGALE, you should read Larkstorm first. The tantalizing glimpse of the world exposed in Larkstorm explodes into a large-scale political scene. It's a huge shift in focus from the personal level of a tragic love story to one of global significance. I'm not sure if NIGHTINGALE succeeds in making this transition. Lark as the main focus is still emotionally young and when portraying that character against a global food shortage, a rising Splinter group that threatens the government, and ever- shifting political power, she seems hopelessly out of her depth.

I really liked Lark's character in Larkstorm. She was spunky and vulnerable. Here her character is more unstable and she's being manipulated through the entire book. Her actions are questionable because I can't tell if she's choosing to act out of her own desires or if she's being manipulated through magic to act in a specific way to gain specific results. While I can understand the use of such actions to further the plot and create conflict, it doesn't really help me connect with Lark because she's not a pro-active character with a compelling goal. Her love for Beck kept her centered and gave her purpose in the first book. In this second book, that focus is lost in the ever expanding political intrigue.

That said...I'm more than willing to continue reading the Sensitives Series in order see how Lark and Beck grow and if they can ever be together. Dawn Rae Miller's prose is fluid and evocative. She captures the tumultuous emotions of betrayal and love beautifully. NIGHTINGALE's plot loses sight of what made Larkstorm a compelling read, but the spark is still there and I hope her next book can bring Beck and Lark's love story back to the center where it should be.