It was a lot better than book 1 , but didn't really get going till late on , as her history is finally revealed , so hopefully book 3 will finally get this series running

going to nefertari for wishlist tag

Arrived safely today.

I agree that this is better than the first book. It's still fairly nonsensical, but if you suspend your disbelief that these very young and inexperienced characters could actually be doing the jobs they're given, then it's enjoyable. In this installment, Celaena actually does some of the ass-kicking we got repeatedly told she was capable of in the first book. We get a bit more of a rounded view of Chaol's character, although he's still rubbish at guarding. Dorian becomes slightly more interesting.

My main issue is that I'm not really buying the depth of feeling between various characters that Maas seems to be selling, but that's a Young Adult genre issue, I think. Characters talk a lot about events, feelings, etc. when I really want the action to be grittier, sexier, bloodier - but I know it's not going to happen!

On its way to a new reader in Cardiff.