It's hard to say what I want to about this book. The characters are all still real and lovable. The author has amazing finesse with her prose. But it shocked me that this book was unique, in that it didn't follow the POV characters of the first book, instead highlighting two new points of view. I love this as a concept <3. But in execution... the two new protagonists are SO honor-bound and Lawful Good that they stagnate for a lot of the book, afraid to take risks or address/resolve conflicts. Having the main characters just... /allow/ the book to happen to/around them is not as compelling as characters who take actions. It reminded me of some classic fiction, like Wuthering Heights or Great Expectations, and had me yelling-in-the-margins at the characters for being so self-denying. There is a payoff, but it takes about 95% of the book to get there :/. So while the first book was 5 stars from me, this sequel only gets a 4.