I said I had hoped that the second book of this trilogy was better, which was a little risky because of its middle-book status, but for me it was so much better! 
 [?]. It was much more exciting than the first book. Where the first book was bogged down a little with explaining everything and Alina's time training up, this one was much punchier for me and made it much quicker to read. 
 [?]. Alina as a character was improved so much. In Shadow and Bone, I found her slightly annoying and flat as a character but I could see that she had matured after the events of the first book, and that she is also still recovering from it. Alina did a lot in this book that made me respect her more, especially how she coped with the new politics after the departure of the Darkling. 
 [?]. I'm usually wary of new characters being introduced in a second book because they can sometimes feel like they've just been dropped in for the sake of it but I didn't find that at all. In fact, I found a new favourite character in Nikolei. He was sharp and sassy but his responsibility made him a more 3D character that I really, really liked. 
 [?]. The writing was just the same as it was in Shadow and Bone. I think Leigh Bardugo has a great writing style and I really connect with it. 
 [?]. I enjoyed Mal and Alina's relationship and how it played out with the changing of Alina's role within the Grisha world. 
 There really wasn't a great deal that I didn't enjoy, I just think that it didn't have the wow that I need for a 5 star read. I would still definitely recommend and though I'm taking a short break before reading the last book to get to a few other novels, I'm looking forward to Ruin and Rising!