I'm really sad that I didn't like this book as much as the first. I really love this world and the whole system. But, I'm just disappointed. 
 It was so much slower than the first book, which I can usually overlook, but this was just Alina trying to decide which boy she "loved" more while a war is about to start. The book skipped whole weeks in a single sentence and it was hard to keep track of, even when I was paying attention. It wasn't a bad book, just slow and I found myself skipping whole paragraphs. 
 I did like finding out more about the political side to the world, but honestly, that was it. All the action was at the start start and the very end. 
 I feel like Mal's character changed on the flip of a dime A LOT, and it was just annoying. Also, the new character (no spoilers) was okay at first but than he was just annoying, too. Also, don't like the weird love square/pyramid thing happening. 
 The start of the book is really what saved it, and what made me give it 3 stars instead of the 2 I considered. I don't do half star ratings but if I did, this would be 2 and half stars.