This was a fantastic sequel which I loved even more than the first one. Laini Taylor's writing style is beautiful and it once again took my breath away. The mythology of the series is also just amazing and very refreshing compared to any other angel/demon books. There is a war going on in this book and I think Laini Taylor made it seem very real and the whole mood of the book is very dark and you definitely feel like you are part of the war. 
 Karou was a brilliant protagonist and I liked how strong she was, however, there were moments where I didnt trust her judgement and thought she should have been a bit more careful about who she trusted. After what happened with Akiva and her at the end of Daughter of smoke and bone, I thought her feelings for him were believable and even though I like Akiva, I'm glad she didn't just forgive him easily. Speaking of which, there isn't a whole lot of romance in the book, so you'll probably be disappointed if you are looking for that. But i think their relationship develops at the perfect pace and is more realistic this way. The plot was wicked and I loved it. 
 The first half was great, but its the second half that really caught my interest. This book is written in third person and even though I prefer first person most of the time, I feel like it works for this book because there is so much going on with the seraphim and the chimaera that just Karou's POV wouldn't work. On the other hand, I do have mixed feelings about how many characters narrated the chapters. I like Zuzana and Mik, so their chapters were funny and cute, but others didn't catch my attention and I just wanted them to end so I could get back to Karou and Akiva. Wolf was a fantastic villian and after seeing a bit of him in the previous book, I definitely wanted more of him. So, I'm happy to say that there was plenty of him in this and I really enjoyed him. Brimstone was my favourite character before, so I really missed him. Overall, it was a great sequel and the ending hints at what is yet to come, which 'm very excited for. :)