When I read ADSOM, I loved the sense of the characters' actions having consequences. Well, this book has Consequences. Oh, man, does it. 
 It's much more character-driven than ADSOM, and I loved it in a different way. There's certainly stuff going on, on every page, but it's a slower build and for most of the book doesn't feel like the same high-stakes, deadly ride that ADSOM did. As I read I could see the threads of the storylines slowly weave together and entangle ready to create a whole raft of new problems, but the real focus was on how the characters were dealing with everything they went through in ADSOM. 
 The scenes with Kell and Rhy (I love getting his point of view as well now) are basically heartbreaking for the first part of the book, before the "main" storyline of the Essen Tasch really kicks in. They're both suffering from the events of ADSOM, struggling to adjust to the changes in themselves and their relationship (which, by the way, is adorable), but Kell also has to deal with the fall from grace after shouldering the lion's share of the blame. All his doubts, his guilt and anger, sadness and loneliness, bleed through in every line, and I just wanted to scream at certain other characters for the way they treated him. Lila, on the other hand, seems to have fallen on her feet, on the Night Spire under Captain Alucard Emery (a wonderful new character, sassy and flamboyant and hard-edged - though not as hard as Lila - and loaded with his own secrets, including ties back to Red London). She's a pirate in all but name, learning to use magic, and if she's beginning to question not only her place in the world but who she is, she's more than willing to ignore those doubts in favour of the next adventure. 
 The romance hinted at in the first book comes more to the surface of this one, though it doesn't overshadow the other relationships and character development, and there's a new, entirely surprising romance as well, which is possibly even more ship-able (needs to be a word). 
 If I had to sum up the theme of this book, I would say freedom, and what it costs. Kell's lost what little he has and is torn between accepting that or fighting for it. Lila's used to having it, no ties or bonds to hold her back, and her struggle is whether safety, belonging, the people she's become (or becoming) attached to are worth giving up any small facet of it. (view spoiler)[ And then there's Holland, who isn't as dead as we thought, and has his own devastating battle to keep any shred of the freedom won when Kell killed Athos Dane. I finished the first book with some pity for him, but his opening scene in this book just ripped my heart out - there's one particular line, you'll know when you read it. (hide spoiler)] 
 Apart from being fascinating and compelling in its own right, never turning overly angsty and played out in a dozen small choices and actions, the emotional turmoil drives the action half of the plot when it kicks into gear in the second half of the book. Kell and Lila (and Rhy and others) make terrible choices again and again, but they're so believable because of the various corners they've been pushed (or pushed themselves) into. Just like with ADSOM, every action has consequences, sometimes unimaginably horrible ones, that lead the characters to the conclusion, where all the story threads collide in a gripping, terrifying tangle of everything going dreadfully wrong and the most vicious cliffhanger I've come across for a long time. 
 Only one criticism - while the weaving together of the Kell/Rhy and Lila/Alucard storylines was immensely satisfying to watch, I found the third (view spoiler)[- Holland's - (hide spoiler)] storyline came in rather late and abrupt, after having been an ominous and menacing presence in the background for so long. However, it's set up for an epic conclusion to the trilogy.