Actual rating: 3.5 stars 
 I love Leigh Bardugo as an author and a person. I know I can trust her 100% when I want a book with incredible characters, sharp dialogue, and deep feeling. I certainly got that with this book, and I'm glad for it. But I realized about halfway through that while I loved every character, I didn't care too much for the plot. It's not a problem with this duology; I think it's just a case of personal taste. Heist novels aren't really my thing. But epic, funny, sad, passionate characters are. In that regard, Bardugo always delivers. So, I enjoyed this book and the duology as a whole. It's just not one of my favorites. 
 Also, I really appreciate the shout out she made in the Acknowledgements to GAATW.org. Using her platform to help stop human trafficking and forced labor is awesome. Thanks, Leigh Bardugo. 
 Edit: I can't stop thinking about something that happened to a character. Without being spoiler-y, I just want to say that I thought it was an unfair choice for that character's development. Honestly, it just felt unnecessary. This event definitely contributes to my overall "it was good, but not awesome" feeling about this book as a whole.