This book just wasn't as much as I thought it would be. I give the author very high marks for setting and atmosphere - her language fit the story and really did a lot for the plot and the characters. But overall there was just something missing for me and I'm not sure what it was. I thought the approach was interesting - a secretive club, petrified and high-handed old men that think they know best (which is uncomfortably similar to who is actually "ruling" things in the world now - satire on purpose, perhaps?), a lack of knowledge about ones own race/species, and some very interesting rules/parameters that aren't popularly used (i.e. - the Exchange needing permission). I did really enjoy also some of the vocabulary she created, like the Exchange and the title phrase, the Quick. I think, on the whole, the characters were a bit too flat - they fit their roles and followed the rules they were, literarily speaking, supposed to, and didn't really digress outside of that. Maybe that's what was missing - everything seemed to follow an expected pattern. So while the language and ideas were there, they were missing some kind of BANG moment. My favorite character development happened with James and C Paige at the beginning. And I did enjoy reading Liza, I think she was by far the most interesting and unique. All in all, not a huge fan of this addition to the vampire lore, but it wasn't an un-enjoyable read either.