I got this as an audiobook, so I'll just mention that the narrator was great. The character's were not as diverse as some other narrators, but in general his voice was uniquely smooth and raspy which lent a mysterious edge to the atmosphere, and he clearly rehearsed the part very well. 
 Overall this was a fun, short read. I was a little nervous it would be Twilight-esque, but it's not at all. I suppose the high school characters act like what you may have thought Twilight MIGHT be like, when you first heard about it and were halfway willing to give it a chance. Young and impulsive and flirty and nervous. Not obsessive and melodramatic. Friendship is the spotlight here, romance just an unavoidable possibility. 
 The supernatural level is a bit all over the place. At first it seems like a rare but established thing. Then all of the sudden it's very much all over the place in a big way. Yet the characters mostly accept these things in stride, which kind of took me out of it. I would not stop talking about some of the discoveries they came across! Then again, Gansey's living situation for a teenager (endlessly rich and independent--apparently travelling the world on his whim by age 16 while still attending schools) is probably more out-of-this-world than anything they come across. 
 The protagonists' ultimate goal, and the antagonist in general, are not adequately fleshed out by the end. And the ending was quite abrupt because of these things. 
 Even so, I rate this at least a 3.5. It never felt like a chore, and I wasn't rolling my eyes at characters or screaming at them or cringing. I had a lot of fun and I feel like I got to know the gang. I'd definitely pick the sequel, especially with the same narrator.