I wanted to love this book, but it didn't quite work out that way. There's the gorgeously gothic setting; the melding of mythologies from East and West; the cast of characters of different genders, ethnicities and sexualities; the sumptuous language - not to mention the beautiful cover, of course!! I think the problem, in the end, was that I found that I couldn't relate to any of the characters enough to feel as though I actually cared what happened to them. 
 I think this book had promise but, for me, it didn't quite live up to it.