My suspicions are confirmed. Stella is truly a masochist and Sinclair is definitely a sadist. And that is the best part of the book! (...just being sarcastic here...) 
 Well, this was a painful to read book. 
 I was tensed while I was reading, just thinking the torturing that Stella has to endure during the Christmas trial. It is not a big secret among the family members anyway. 
 I was scared thinking what Lucius, Sinclair's younger brother, is going to do to her now that he owns her. 
 And I was absolutely sure that Stella's lovely stepbrother is going to double-cross her. 
 Thank God the outcome is not as bad as I expected - even if it is pure torture to watch. But still it could have been much worse. 
 Sinclair Vinemont. Sin. Hmm. I cannot say that I finally like him. Let's just say that he has taken a step to the right direction. There are seven rules that the participant families in the games need to follow. I kind of understand Sinclair's desperate need to win when I learned the first rule - although I do not understand why someone and his family participate in the games in the first place. How much power-starved they have to be... 
 Stella Rousseau. Hmm. Still I do not understand what she is doing there. But I am expecting to see some more common sense from her in book 3, "Sovereign". 
 She promised actually: 
 "I would come out the other side. And when I did, I would burn the entire Acquisition to the ground." 
 And I hope that she keeps her promise.