This book was a little tricky for me because... it was like the rhythm of this book only worked for me in fits and starts. Like there would be a series of things happening that I would get drawn in to and really enjoy. Then something would happen to throw me off and I would take a break before resuming my read. I didn't like the way this book ended and it felt like it was going in to territory I would like even less after that. I even went ahead and read the synopsis for the next book... and was slightly disgusted that it seemed to be indicating a love triangle-- first, because I tend to hate those as a matter of course in stories in general, and second, because it felt incredibly out of place after reading book one. Either the synopsis is not a fair indication of the next book, or I expect I will not enjoy the journey that the next book takes me on, so even though I thought this was a reasonably enjoyable book, I am inclined to pass on the rest of this series. This book also committed some 'literary sins' such as instalove, having a dehumanized villain, so as to seem over the top in his EVIL-WAYS (tm), and having a story that **perfectly** matches another synopsis that I have read, for a different book-- RECENTLY.