This book jumped around a little more than the first, in an unpleasant way. The flashbacks to the hedgewitches were freaky and the every-other-chapter-aspect was frequently jarring and generally unrelated to what was going on in the present. That said, I had a friend encourage me that it gets better, and it did. Once the action came back into it and we saw all the threads coming together, it made it all a worthwhile read. Just borrowed #3 for the local library!