For me, this book and series are really 3.5 stars. I had SUCH a hard time getting in to this book. I feel like getting through the first fifty pages took me five hundred years, and it was even hard to pick it up in the first place. I don’t know what about it was making me react like that, but it’s not a normal reaction for me, so for that reason alone I can’t give this a full four stars, but I’m rounding up because AFTER page fifty or so, when the story finally caught me, I was able to zoom through this and it became incredibly engaging.
I also think, again AFTER the first fifty pages, which frustrated me, I liked this better than the first book, because it complicated the storyline and put events from that book into new perspective. The added mythology increased my enjoyment here by quite a bit. I also enjoyed what it did for Rupert’s character, and for their complicated relationship. There aren’t really any “bad guys,” just lots of grey moral areas and people trying their best (making lots of mistakes).
One good thing about the plot, as uninteresting as I found it at the beginning, it had been way too long in between reading the first book and this one, and I had forgotten a lot. Devi’s forced amnesia allowed me to relearn things as she was relearning them, so that was handy. I’m glad I pushed through.
One thing about the audiobook, don’t listen to it. I initially checked this out as an audiobook from the library, and the narrator is absolutely awful. I think she was one of the reasons my initial impression of the book was so terrible. Once I switched over to the hard copy, it got much better.
[3.5 stars]