I'm usually a fan of books containing witchcraft and although I did enjoy this I felt like it didn't live up to it's potential. 
 I found it to be lack lustre and the characters didn't really develop all that much nor did they have particularly enthralling personalities. However, this is only the first novel so there may be more character development in the novels after this. 
 I liked some of the concepts such as the animosity between Black and White witches and also the different traits of the two types. Blacks prefer being outdoors at night and have different eyes etc. 
 The plot was interesting but jumped about far too much. The first half of the novel was well paced and I enjoyed learning about Nathan's less than idyllic childhood but the latter half moved far too quickly, particularly the two months prior to his seventeenth birthday. I got lost and found myself having to check what was going on. 
 I was also decidedly confused about the "romance" in this novel. It was more Nathan's fantasies about Annalise and then Gabriel pining after Nathan to not much avail. 
 Overall I found the book had promise but did not deliver in certain aspects such as the 'romance.' 
 I will be continuing on with the trilogy because I'm curious to see how this all pans out in the end.