I loved Mexican Gothic, so started going through the author's oeuvre chronologically. Well, it has been an uneven ride. But this one was the low point so far. Again, the characters work: they are three-dimensional, plausible, and I grew to care about their fates--at least a little. The alternative-world setting, with its strict social codes is a good idea, but the presentation of the social pressures somewhat hamfisted. So far, not so bad, but the problem is that (a) very little of consequence happens in the book until the very end. Also, (b) it almost feels like the author wrote a straight-up romance book, but the publisher told her to add something 'supernatural' to it to be able to sell it as a genre book, so glued on is the magic (or whatever you want to call it) in the story. I don't know, there's something I like about Moreno-Garcia's books, but maybe this 'read them all' idea doesn't work, after all...