I wanted to like this, I really did. But here we are. 
 This was just so unbearably slow. Like listen, I enjoy detail in my prose but I really think there is such a thing as too much. I basically ended up skimming the back half of the book, looking for quotation marks so I could get this show on the road. 
 Parts of this were interesting--the plot and characters had their moments--and there was even a bit where I thought I was really going to start enjoying this but. Ultimately the whole thing just sort of fell flat. There were all these last minute reveals pushing the plot along that felt more like getting slapped in the face with a twist as opposed to something that had been adequately built up towards. A lot of the drama and conflict felt really contrived--like you could see the author's hand in things instead of permitting the illusion of them happening naturally as part of the unfolding story. 
 Anyway. I won't be continuing this series.