Honestly, I'm very disappointed. I could not get through the entire book; maybe I should have given it a chance, but I just couldn't bring myself to, especially not with other, better books begging me to read them. I had a bunch of problems with the story but they all boil down to the main flaw that I encountered: the writing is really unfocused. Things are described in varying levels of intensity, which was really jarring to me: for instance, I could picture Valefor, but not once was a proper description actually given to the house itself. Udo was never described beyond his fashion sense, so I couldn't picture his face. I couldn't figure out where the story wanted to go, and I didn't have the patience to stick with it while a clear direction emerged. Were we supposed to care more about Valefor, or about Flora's mother? What was the political drama trying to accomplish? If magic is banned, how could Flora get her hands on a book so easily? The storyline was jumbled, the pace was not steady, and I could not find a reason to continue reading. I wouldn't say that this was a bad book necessarily, because I feel almost sad that I couldn't get in to it, but I definitely did not enjoy it and will probably not try reading it again.