I feel very differently about the first and second halves of this book.

The first half of this book is incredibly boring, dragging, and pointless. The plot does not progress. The characters are given no sources of conflict. The scenes are repetitive and unnecessary. It's unsatisfying and disappointing, especially from and author that I love the work of so dearly. This book is over 600 pages, and over half of them do absolutely nothing to justify their existence. Out of 4 POV characters that we get, I cared about none of them, despite being obsessed with them all in book 1 (which I just reread last month and gave 5 stars!).

In the second half of the book, things start to begin to actually happen. The plot kicks into gear, and some of our leads belatedly get motivations and character arcs assigned to them. There are actual stakes, and I was invested and enjoying myself. The book most definitely sticks the landing, with bombastic action sequences supported by emotional payoffs. There was a portion of this novel, 75%-95%, where I was loving it.

So, though there were many instances where I contemplated giving up on this one, I'm glad that I stuck with it to the end. I'm left feeling satisfied and hungry for the next installment. But this book should have been half as long, as it only had enough plot in store to support that much.

The cats in this book are as great, proud, and spunky as ever.
I enjoy how this book explores our antagonists, and is shaping the series into something quite epic.

The new cover style is ugly and does not represent the book well. I hate it, especially in comparison to the beautiful and fitting cover of book 1.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ace for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.