This was, if nothing else, better than the first one. I appreciated the addition of Maud's backstory and the fact that she was given some depth and an actual character arc. I thought it was cool that this one picked up pretty much exactly where the first one left off, but then the author went in several other directions without ever bringing that plotline to a conclusion, so it was still disjointed and left feeling unfinished. Given the seven years between the two books, perhaps there is a third coming down the line that will tie everything up.