I tried. I really did. I didn't enjoy book one, but had higher hopes for this one since I was told that the story didn't primarily focus in Csorwe as it did in the first book. 

The biggest problem for me was that I don't care about any of the other characters. One of my criticisms of the first book was that the characters fell flat and never underwent any development, and it felt the same here. 

The plot in book 1 kept me interested enough to keep reading, but the same can't be said here. The first 100ish pages were a slog to get through, and as I continued on, I still wasn't engaged. Following characters you don't care about is rough, but pairing that with a story that bores you results in DNF's for me. That was the case here. 

I really do love the world that Larkwood has built here, and I find that her writing felt improved as well. She writes dialogue quite well and her worldbuilding is fantastic, but I failed to be engaged in both her books.