This book was a s-l-oooooooooo-w start. I almost bailed and I'm really glad that I didn't. At first the characters seemed to lack character, and the talking cat was well, a little odd. It took until past the 100 page mark for things to come together for me. The different personalities started to gel, the cat's attitude was exceptional, and the storyline solidified. We are still left with a lot of questions but that makes anticipating the next book more fun! Subtracting one star for the weak beginning, otherwise this was a 5-star read.