Sarah J. Maas knows how to write a second book. Her formula (which is working very well): a twisty plot suffused with compelling characters, complex world building, and an emotional punch thrown in for good measure. Maas always goes for the long game, and I love it. Like with her Throne of Glass series, she starts with a pretty good, somewhat simpler book #1 that seems to wrap things up, and then BAM! She hits you with the unexpected in book #2, and you realize just how deep her plots go, just how intricate and layered her stories are. I read a lot of YA, so I feel like it's hard to surprise me with plots these days, and yet Maas surprises me EVERY TIME. 
 However, there is a ridiculous amount of sexual content in this book. We're talking overwrought, melodramatic, nothing-left-to-the-imagination explicit content. I have no idea why this book is YA or on the shelves at my daughter's middle school library (just saying). Maas writes everything in vivid detail, and I think her books would be stronger if she took a more nuanced, less-is-more approach to her sexual content. Be prepared to skip several pages if grocery-store-romance sex scenes aren't your thing. 
 And Maas, not everything gets to be CLEAVED! I love that word, also, but keep the usage to 2-3 times a book.