3.5 stars.

The author's writing has improved since the Caraval series and this book is much easier to read. I found it a lot harder to immerse myself, however.

I find Evangeline Fox a little boring but brave. The heroine's character isn't exactly boring but also predictable. I couldn't really properly summarize my experience with this book. Just that it took longer than I thought it would.

Jacks was one of the characters I enjoyed reading about in Caraval but I got that less here. He's more attractive, more mysterious but felt less magical.

The tension and where feelings may have started to occur wasn't until closer to the end. Like with Caraval, mid of the story is all about showing the magical aspect of the book. I felt it wasn't almost there. I miss Tella.

Although, the writing is better here - I felt underwhelmed by it. The ending did seem to have a promising sequel so I can't wait till that's released and hopefully, we get more Jacks this time.