4.5 stars 
 I always wanted to read this book, and the only reason I only read it now is because I wanted to be closer to the release of the sequel. That's very lame, I know. 
 So saying I had high expectations would be an understatement (probably also the reason I've never read it until now) 
 Obviously, I wasn't disappointed. I love the Grisha world and I was more than happy to go back into it (even though it's quite different from the trilogy). The plot wasn't the most original but I still really enjoyed it, because well the characters are amazing. Leigh Bardugo certainly can write characters (I mean The Darkling, am i right?) 
 The characters are all vey interesting. So well of course I found myself caring about some more than others: 
 - Jesper is my personal favorite, I absolutely adore him. Going into this book, I only knew 4 names, Jesper's one wasn't one of them, I didn't know anything about him (is it because people don't talk about him a lot or at least as much as the others? Most likely). I was pleasantly surprised to learn everything/anything about him and his life. If you know anything about me, you know I love my anti-heroes, and I like them bad. But I also like characters that are cute and funny but they could also hurt/kill you in 2 seconds if they wanted to. And that's basically Jesper, and I love him. (Please protect him from everything and everyone, and also Wylan) 
 - Nina. Do I really have to explain why she is so great? Strong, confident, kickass female character? Yes please. 
 - Matthias. Who is surprised I like him? Who really is? Well obviously not me. He is complex. I probably wanted to slap him more than once but oh man, I do love him a lot. (and he kind of reminds me of Wolf (Scarlet), so that's also probably a reason why I like him) 
 Matthias/Nina, yes I'm all for it! I want more. 
 I also really like Kaz and Inej, but I wasn't so invested in them. 
 Basically I loved it, and I'm now ready for Crooked Kingdom!