Hook, line, and sinker. 
 This series has it all, historical adventure and quicksilver wit, but more importantly, it is stuffed to the gills with great characters that are constantly shifting and changing, and like quicksand we step into them at our peril, only to lose ourselves more as we struggle against them. 
 Am I happier after the roller coaster that was the previous novel? Yes. Absolutely. I was given a little breathing space by how this had turned into a novel of a chase through time, and it gave me just enough time to get used to the fact that I think I like these character iterations just a bit more than the previous ones. Huh? You ask? Well if you have to ask then you haven't read the novels and it really isn't my place to spoil such things for you here, now is it. But if you're curious, then maybe, just maybe, you ought to be reading this grand, grand stuff, and know just how delicious and heartwarming and heartbreaking it is. :) 
 That being said, I had a great time with many of the particulars, and especially loved the tribute to Connie Willis's Doomsday Book. And I was a bit miffed that we didn't get more time with Akhenaten, I can't really complain. It was rather a whirlwind romance. I mean, run for their lives. :) 
 Am I satisfied with how everything got situated? 
 Hell yes. Do I retain all faith in the powers of Jodi Taylor to tear my heart out and stamp on it a bit before pumping it with a massive dose of antibiotics and carefully stitching it back up into my chest? 
 Yes. 
 She's one hell of a storyteller. :)