This book seemed a little different - there was a series of different, and mostly unrelated, things happening rather than one main plot, which was unusual. It kinda seemed like there were several things/plot-lines/groups etc that needed to advance (plot-wise) so she threw them all into this book to move the story ahead. 
 So it's important to read, in order to understand the next books in the series, but it's perhaps not as exciting as others.