When we last left Rossamund Bookchild in book one of the Monster Blood Tattoo series, he had finally arrived at his destination to train to be a lamplighter. In book two, Lamplighter, he continues his adventures while learning what is to be his trade, lighting lamps along the Empire’s roadways.

Rossamund settles into the routine well enough, but from the start there is trouble when a group of monsters set upon travelers on the road and apprentice lamplighters get caught in the battle. Rossamund performs valiantly, and it’s there that he meets Threnody, a girl who wants to become the first female lamplighter.

As Rossamund goes about his daily life, he feels that something is amiss at Winstermill, where the apprentices live and train. He meets new friends, becomes reacquainted with old ones in Sebastipole and Europe, and makes enemies among those he suspects of dastardly deeds.

His adventures take him to his first assignment, which he shares with Threnody. The two get along well at their new home, until a crisis finds the two of them in an unexpected bind.

Second books in series sometimes fall short, but I found Lamplighter picked up the pace from Foundling and built upon Rossamund’s backstory while continuing with twists and turns to his adventure. While I wish that some of the terminology for the world in this series was less complicated (I often found myself skipping over some of the descriptions to focus on the story) I can’t wait to see what adventures Rossamund gets up to in the third book.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.