I love the first and I wanted to love the second too, but.....(sighs) there were just some problems. Alina was mainly the "thing". Because of that, it was almost at the mark where I didn't want to shelve it as my favorite. Sooooooooo close. What changed my mind was the plot and new characters. 
 I was stunned because it seemed unlikely for new characters to appear at this point of the story. I appreciate it because The Darkling doesn't show up for most of the book! Nikolai! Take his place and spice it up! Ahhh, man that was something. I really like him more than Mal. I think Tolya and Tamar are....well....they're pretty decent. The cool thing is that I can picture them with their Shu eyes. It's like the color of some cats' eyes. The others, well I don't really care. Ok, so for Mal, I read some reviews that think that he is just flat out annoying (or something like that), but in my opinion, I found it amusing. Again, characters like him, I also feel a little pity for him, but it was entertaining. 
 Next, the plot. In the beginning, I was liking it so far and then, it just became a little frustrating (whisper: and a little boring. Shhhh!). To be honest, I'm embarrassed that I couldn't fully connect with the story or maybe it was just the story because I felt that this book wasn't just...not linked together as the first. Despite all that, I pulled through because of the characters and that climax till the end. This story really had me there with plot twists that made me hyperventilate. They all kept me in the net, just because of that. 
 Problem: Alina. Alina. Alina. In the first book, I welcomed her with a nice warm hug, but in the sequel, she never really changed. The only thing that changed was her were the amplifiers. I was expecting her to change as a character not influenced by her power. It kind of upsets me that she's still thinking the same thoughts. Anyway, I really do hope she changes. 
 All in all, this book was pretty decent and is really lucky to be shelved as my favorite. 
 ~~> 4.40 Stars!!! <~~