I loved this book! First and foremost, it was so refreshing to read about a female protagonist who didn’t fall prey to the common problems that frustrate me in so many other books. I loved that she didn’t put up with the male characters’ possessive, controlling crap. She stood up for herself and took control of her own life. She didn’t let them pressure her, guilt her, tell her what to do, or dominate her. She took responsibility for her own body and her own decisions. And I squealed with joy every time. I also loved that she didn’t make stupid decisions that made me yell at my book and that she didn’t sit around waiting for others to do something for her or waiting for opportunities–she made her own opportunities. And she made firm decisions with logical solutions to her problems. I read through some of the negative reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and have to say I honestly don’t understand why other readers thought she was whiny or wishy-washy except that maybe they didn’t give her enough of a chance. I found her thoughts and actions realistic, much more so than the insta-love and the immediate acceptance of life-changing magical duties in many books. And upon reading the full book, even things that seemed odd or too insta-love-y at first ended up having an explanation. It’s rare for me to really like female characters, but, even though she wasn’t perfect, I thought she was fantastic.

As for the book in general, it had a great balance of backstory, mystery, humor, sexiness, and uniqueness. And on top of all that, I loved the writing style. It was beautiful without being too flowery and metaphorical and was the perfect use of show-don’t-tell. The author has an uncanny skill in knowing just what details to point out and exactly how to describe them.

Overall, as a lover of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, I really enjoyed this book, as well as all three others in the series.