Not bad, but there were some pretty standard second book issues. It dragged a bit as the plot was established, regarding Kestrel as a spy and her developing relationships with Verex and the Emperor. Plus, all the drama with her father. Honestly, I think there were some leaps of logic made by both Arin and Kestrel on the topic of "the dastardly deeds of the empire against Herran" that of course needed to be true to move the plot forwards, but were still questionable lines to draw. And I think the whole poison situation was super interesting as an idea and started well, but the "recovery" after it's discovery seemed to happen a bit too quickly. All in all though, not too poorly done as far as where we are left at the end. Kestrel broke under pressure and made questionable decisions (totally realistic, I liked that) that ended with her on the way to work camps (while her father did nothing??) and Arin is off to find new allies b/c he let himself be pushed away by Kestrel (though to be fair, she was pretty harsh, he had very little actual evidence of her feelings for him, and he gave her the benefit of the doubt for a long time - of course he ran off on a foolhardy mission to forget her and let go). We'll see where things so from here, but the third book is set up nicely.