Between 3.5 and 4 stars

I actually read this one a few years ago, but I have no memory of it (and I tend to remember each book I read like the memory of an old friend.) but I rated it 1 star. I'll rate this one higher, probably because I read the latest in the series pretty recently and enjoyed it a lot.

It was pretty typical for the first in a series, spending time fleshing out the main characters while slogging through the plot. I did enjoy the plot but I'm not sure it was enough to carry the book. Around halfway through I was getting bored and it was hard to keep my interest (which is why it took me 2 months to finish it.)

Overall, not as terrible as my original rating but doesn't rank up there in the close-circle-of-book-friends-etched-in-my-memory.