I rated this 3 stars the first time, and I stand by that this time as well. If anything, I was confirmed by my second reading of this book that 3 stars is the best I have.

This book is not one you can read without having read the first. It's also a somewhat slow book, and there's a few plotpoints I find to be lacking. It stalls sometimes too but it's in no way a bad book.

My reasoning for this is that the book suffers from "2nd in the trilogy" syndrome. New characters were introduced, and Alina grows more into her Grisha self which makes the book so much more enjoyable than the first book. But it also heavily leaves the reader feeling like it's just the book between the beginning and the end. Like the book runs in circles instead of progressing, especially in character development.