I tried. I finished 286 pages of this novel and I realized something - I was forcing myself to read this. I just could not care about Mara and her confusing world. I will admit that this book - at least the 286 pages I read are a far superior execution than the previous book which was pretty bad. 
 The problem that I had with this novel is that there is never any answers and I had a feeling we were heading to another cliffhanger where Hodkins leaves to make you come for the 3rd book. I think this trilogy should have been a duology, the plot needed to be tighter and some answers given to the reader peppered through the books in order to make some sense of it. Instead we continue receiving 'clues' or strange occurrences that are all left in a big pot of I don't know. I don't think this would be a problem if the protagonist was more dynamic but she is missing all sorts of sparks that make me want to undertake this journey with her. Also, God help me but I could care less about Mara and Noah, I think I fell asleep during one of their scenes. 
 I gave it a star for Hodkins adding some cultural elements to it however bleak they might be and another for creating a nice family life. Mara's family has more personality than she does and their scenes together are the highlight of the novel but were clouded with Mara's trite narration. 
 There's really nothing else I can say for this book, I'm giving the trilogy to a teen perhaps they can better identify with Mara and her story.