Going into this book I wasn't sure if it was going to be enjoyable or terrible. Thankfully, it was WAY better than I expected it. I like Thomas' writing style and then was pleasantly surprised when this turn into more of an urban historical fantasy rather than strictly high fantasy. As in, our world exists, just separate from the rest of the magical realms in the series. In fact, much of the novel takes place at a boarding school in London in the late 1800s. Which is something I had absolutely no idea was about to happen until it did. 
 Anyway, this was quite well done. Though it did suffer a bit from a rushed ending. But I appreciated the way it wrapped up all its plotlines, however loosely. Yes, there is certainly more story to be told here, but the novel itself is still a contained volume. Which is something I appreciated. And I'm definitely interested in continuing the series. This book on its own probably is more of a 3.5-3.75 instead of a true 4 stars though.