Magic system: excellent. Story: intriguing. Setting: unique. Character building: meh. Dialogue: meh.

I wanted to like Alina more. I wanted to feel more invested in Mal and Alina. I wanted to care more about Alina's growth as a character. I felt that her dialogue and thoughts were inconsistent. Sometimes she was snarky and sarcastic. Sometimes she was blunt. Sometimes she was quiet and shy. The big revelatory moments in the book never really packed enough of a punch to get me excited. So I'll keep reading because I've heard amazing things about Bardugo's later books and I've heard she really grows as an author. I hope so because my review of this one is 'meh.' Really 3.5 stars.