So.. I was pretty forgiving with the first book in this series. A large part of it, was that I know how much I love Six of Crows, and I knew Shadow and Bone would never live up to that standard. Alina Starkov can never be Kaz Brekker. 
 There doesn't seem to be a whole lot happening in this book. Which is fine, I don't need tons of action, but I do need the characters to be worthy of being read when they are doing mundane things like training and drinking tea. And these characters just aren't on that level. They are lukewarm at best and sort of forgettable. Nikolai is awesome but there just wasn't enough of him to carry this book. I also like the Darkling, but again, just not enough of him. Alina and Mal are keepin' it real mediocre. A lot of the time I felt like I was reading a romance novel where the whole of the conflict is based on the couple's inability to communicate. It just wasn't much fun. 
 I'm not even sure which of these couples I should be rooting for at this point. Alina and Mal? Alina and Nikolai? Alina and Darkling? As a general rule, I usually root for the couple that's been together the longest, in this case, Alina and Mal. But they have so little chemistry together I'm finding it next to impossible. 
 That being said, the beginning and the end of the book are awesome, and the only reason I didn't give it less than 3 stars. In the beginning we see Alina and Mal captured by the Darkling again. I won't spoil how they escape but it was a well written action scene. The end of the book is another well written battle between Alina and Darkling. It's disappointing that Bardugo writes action so well and wasted so much of this book on the romance. 
 I'm not incredibly hopeful for the third book. I have a sneaking suspicion I know how it ends and it will make me sad, but at this point it feels wrong not to see it through.