I love Maria V. Snyder stories. They have everything I want: adventure, fantasy, an interesting world and characters, and a little romance. 
 This book didn't disappoint... mostly. 
 It does have adventure, fantasy and an interesting world (that's why the four stars), but I had a big issue with the romance and the characters. 
 The story is set in the same world as the Study series (which I loved), four years later. The main character is Opal Cowan, the sister of a Tula, who in the previous books was girl raped and tortured by one of the antagonists and later killed. She has a special ability with glass that was discovered in the first series by Yelena by chance and allows magicians to communicate with each other by the use of her glass orbs. 
 In this series, Opal is studying her last year in the keep and has a SERIOUS inferiority complex. She is bullied for being the One Trick Wonder and envied for her close relationship with Yelena. She has no friends, no self-esteem... and no personality. She is boring. 
 However, it is true that her character grows in the story, becoming more confident with the help of her new found friends and Master Zitora. She is sent on a mission to discover why the orbs used by stormdancers to capture the power of storms are shattering. There she meets Kade her romantic love interest... until a LOVE TRIANGLE OF DOOM develops. 
 She also meets Ulrick, the son of a glassmaker, who possibly has a similar power to hers (something the masters have tried to find unsuccessfully). 
 So we have a horrible love triangle between: 
 1.	Opal: boring girl with self-esteem issues 
 2.	Kade: brooding man who has no chemistry whatsoever with Opal even though a "spark" is mentioned every time they are together 
 3.	Ulrick: too protective, possessive, jealous man with self-esteem issues and very big ambition who is always in a bad mood 
 *sighs* 
 Don't get me wrong, I loved the story... I gave it four stars after all... but I needed to get that out of my chest. 
 Here are some of the positive things just so you know it isn't that bad: 
 1.	New locations and characters 
 2.	New amazing magic abilities 
 3.	Reunite with old characters 
 4.	Fisk: best things about this book 
 5.	Devlen: one of the antagonists, second best thing. He is a cruel mystery and I love him. 
 I'll start the next book anxious to know what happens, but hoping the love triangle and angst are over.