This book had some great ideas, but the execution . . . eh. There was just too much focus on too many characters and too many backstories that, while interesting, had little, if any, relevancy to the plot. Often the narration got so lost in explanation that the return to reality was jarring and a bit confusing. It also detracted much from the plot, and all of the extra information actually made it harder to keep up with the story. I thought I'd have to start mapping out characters before I realized half of them didn't matter. However, I loved the concept. The world building was great too, and the effort put into explanations and backstories was great as well . . . just not the way it was pulled off. It felt like the author had just decided to stick all of her notes in the book as characters and supernatural things were introduced instead of providing the reader with just enough information and slowly letting the rest seep in here and there. The overload of information took away from the book a bunch, but I did enjoy the spin on the supernatural. It's a cool world, nice plot, and those are the only reasons I'll be reading the next one. Here's to hoping it was all just introduction. :)