I had read the Shiver trilogy and had high hopes for this one. I was kind of disappointed and underwhelmed. However, I refused to give up on it and it took 3/4 of the book to finally capture and hold my interest. But once it did get me, it refused to let go and I just had to finish it. Hence the 3 stars. 
 Her writing is as lovely as ever, though I remember Shiver being much more poetic and lyrical, whereas this one seemed more down-to-earth. That's probably why it took so long to get into, because the writing style was so much more different than I remember. The characters seemed a little flat, but it is only the first book. The plot, as I said, was very interesting but excruciatingly slow at first. It's worth it once it hits the gas but it's real late in the book. I'm curious enough to pick up the rest after this class.