It took a while for this series to hit its stride, but I'm glad that I stuck through the first few books. Late Eclipses was everything I wanted this series to be - all the elements came together so well and I've grown to really appreciate all the characters. Like I said, it took a while because McGuire has a tendency to introduce characters seemingly out of nowhere and it can be hard for the reader's attachment to them to match Toby's (or her own) relationship to the characters. 
 I have to admit, the King of Cats is more like the King of Snails in terms of how slowly that particular plot is moving, but while the first three books made the glacial pacing of that developing relationship irritating, there was so much other stuff going on in this book that I didn't mind as much. 
 One thing I've noticed is that whether because of McGuire's style or the nonstop pacing (Toby's tired and I feel tired from reading about her being tired!) I don't really feel the impact of the deaths that much. I feel bad for certain characters when they die (no spoilers) but even when major characters die, I'm not that distraught over it. As much as I like her characters, all of them could use way more development. When you're on book 4 and most characters can be described in two or three lines, it's a pretty good sign that the plot has taken precedence over character depth. 
 I've read four books in a row and in the span of less than a week now and the great thing is that the series is still improving. Most series start out strong and weaken from repetition but this one in particular almost had the opposite effect because there were so many mysteries from the first couple of books, it's actually more satisfying now that the answers also flesh out the background of the characters. 
 Rosemary and Rue really dumped us right in the middle of Toby's life and everything seemed a little too rushed; I was still trying to figure things out even as they unraveled. I mentioned that McGuire introduces characters out of nowhere: the plot of the first book is a perfect example of this, since it's interesting as a murder mystery but the reader can't care much about the victim. Toby's relationship with Conner is also just kind of given to us, along with all her friends and other relationships. As a result, I feel like all the relationships that are newly formed or changing (May, Tybalt, Julie) are much more interesting than the established relationships (Lily, Sylvester, Luna, Conner).