If you finished the first book with a love of the romance, you may be disappointed. If it was the politics that kept you en edge, you're in for a treat. As I fall into the latter category, I loved this book. Despite having a hard time on my shelf, being read at the same time as White Gardenia and all, it can't get anything less than a 5 in my book, maybe even a 5.5. I did really like the first one, but this improved the story by a whole galaxy. Having already developed the romance and the universe in the first book, the author has more time to get into the characters and the politics that drew me to this book so much. All the conflicts intensify (though they also become more confusing). 
 I didn't feel much connection with the characters in the first book, and, though I actually didn't mind that, in this book I began to love the characters and their struggles. Arin grew on me, but he still needs to be more developed. I like him and Kestrel individually, but not as a couple. Nevertheless, this book is a very worthy sequel. There were even passages I marked for special interest. The story twists and turns, but it doesn't show you where it's going. Not only do you not know the outcome, you don't know the choice in the first place, which is my preferred method of plot-twisting. 
 "Her maids were horrified. They ran a bath and practically stripped the clothes from her. But Kestrel nursed that floating feeling of forgiveness Verex had given her. It buoyed her in the warm bath. 
 "If she went to the battling clubs and signed more soldiers into the army, would their deaths be her fault? Would the blood of the people they killed be on her hands? And the grief and anger of those left behind- was that her doing, too? She remembered how the war orphans had wanted black kites. 
 There's one other great passage, the penultimate paragraph of page 264, but some may find it controversial, so I will not actually quote it. It was, however, a gorgeous passage from my perspective. 
 So I enjoyed this book very much and I hope you will too!