Liked this as much as the first one. It was a little slower paced, but for its length it still went by quickly (though not a lot happened for the whole middle period of the book). The plot was a little more fun and way less "magic girl goes to magic school." Alina's still great - and still conflicted. I don't really care for Mal, and think he's just as controlling in this one. I still kind of want her to ditch him and run off with the Darkling (even though I know she made the right choice in the first book and he's terrible, but the heart wants what it wants...). I loved Nikolai too - he was a fun addition to the story (and he would also be a better choice than Mal ha!). We'll see how it all wraps up in the next one.