I enjoyed Red Queen, but the sequels have some pacing issues. This one didn't get going until the first 1/3 (in the audiobook format, that's 6 hours into the 17 hour audiobook). In fact, the first half of the book could have been trimmed down and summarized into a chapter or two and had the same effect.

Spoiler

There was constant whining from Mare despite being treated relatively well in captivity. There was also a lot of hopelessness--even the chapters from the POV of a character not trapped in the castle were just dreary and sad. I realize it's a war, but if there were a few lighthearted moments thrown in (because in real life people would be likely to try to cheer each other up), the read would have been more bearable.

I do like the plot and worldbuilding though, and will read the final book to see what happens.