Book 2 carries on the tradition from book one, so if you liked book one (I did, with reservations), it's the ongoing story, very similar tone, but slightly darker. It's no longer "coming of age" though... everyone grew up real fast!
There are some nice "surprises" although I guessed some of them. There's more sex to the point it's repetitive and tiring -- I kind of skipped those scenes. The sex scenes don't bother -- they just feel totally out of place, and it made it impossible to recommend to any YA audience who might otherwise have been interested in a good (although violent) adventure. 
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed, and I'll be reading the third book (in January, I think?) but I wouldn't necessarily recommend to too many friends, and definitely not to my children. That sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it. I guess that's how I felt at the end, conflicted. Oh wel.
The other thing that became very noticeable is the excessive love of military, to the point where it's almost the main theme. (The military theme was there in book one, but it's more noticeable in the second book, which is very much a war novel.)
I don't mind reading all three genres separately -- fantasy with dragons, romantasy with sex, and well drawn military drama -- but together, here, it doesn't mesh totally. 
But still, I'll be in line to read the third book in 2025.