What I will say is that if you enjoyed Shadow and Bone then I'm sure you'll enjoy the sequel just as much. Alina has already been through a lot but she is going to find herself tested more than ever before, so many things are thrown at her in such a short space of time and she is struggling to come to terms with the changes in herself since she unlocked her powers. People look at her differently now and she is under a lot of pressure from all kinds of directions about how she should proceed. Most of Ravka believe she is a saint and is the only one who can save them from the Darkling but that is a lot for her to live up to. I have to admit I was sad to see her struggle to open up to the people around her and the strain that put on some of her personal relationships but it was completely understandable and just made her character feel even more real. 
 I loved Mal in the first book but I found myself getting a little irritated with his actions some of the time in this one. He is letting Alina's powers drive a wedge between them and while I can understand how out of place he feels around the Grisha because he lacks their abilities I expected him to be more supportive of her rather than someone else who was trying to put pressure on her. There are moments when I love them together but others where I want to shake the pair of them and tell them to grow up. I guess the fact that they can make me so angry just goes to show how much I care about them though and I'm still really hoping they'll be able to find a way to work things out. The Darkling is as intriguing as ever, in the first book he was a much more seductive character though and this time I found him much less appealing. His actions at the end of Shadow and Bone left me reeling and he continued to shock me with how power hungry he has become and the lengths he will go to to get what he wants.