The beginning of the book felt like a completely different story to the rest of the book. The pacing and flow of this one felt a lot better, and I liked Shiori's character in this one even if her development was a little unbelievable. The main character gripe I had was with the fact that no one really trusted Shiori (with a few exceptions), with her track record understandable, but keeping her in the dark about necessary information when shes the only one who actually has to finish this quest was so annoying everytime it happened.
I am glad with how the love triangle resolved, although I will say I did not expect the plot to follow the path it did but I'm not upset with it - it is much better than what I thought was gonna happen. Shiori and Raikama's relationship was something really great to watch unfold, and makes me upset bc that means the first book had so much more potential for that.