Lemme bullet my thoughts here: 
 Merit is one of the more well-rounded heroines I've come across in UF, meaning that she has very obvious faults as well as strengths. I want to smack her for her faults sometimes, but I also want to cheer her on for her strong points. For all that she can act the idiot and has bad choices in friends, she is fiercely loyal to her causes, accepts the consequences of her choices, and has a lot of backbone in her character. I had new/more respect for her after I was done reading. 
 Why oh why did that Mallory girl have to come back into the picture? I immensely enjoyed her absence and thought Lindsey was a much better friend and sidekick. Pity she couldn't stay away forever. 
 Ethan is also a more balanced character than most UF leads I've come across, for the simple fact that he is fallible and has flaws that are actually flaws instead of "good traits taken to the extreme." for that reason alone I like him and empathized with him and his conflicted self, even though he was way outta line for what he did to Merit. Of all the men in this series he's the one I like best. Morgan is an immature jerk, and I don't like what I've seen of Jonah much. 
 What is it with ALL the men In this series being extremely handsome? It seems only beautiful people exist in or venture into Chicagoland. 
 I hate to say it but the shifter mythology in this series is kinda lame; even so, it is a pretty bangin' vampire series.