2.5 stars, while the first book in the series was surprisingly amazing, this was such a disappointment. Only maybe the first 50 pages and the last 30 pages were interesting, the rest was slow and sometimes boring.

And one of the things that bothered me a lot was Mal. Gosh, I don't know if I've ever found a not villain character so incredibly annoying. Sometimes I had to put away the book because I got so frustrated with him. It feels like 90% of his personality was jealousy.

Their country is in danger, but all Mal cared about was not being able to spend time alone with Alina, who was trying her best to find a way to save the country? And oh if she even dared to look at Nikolai, nope.

Speaking of Nikolai, he might be the only character I genuinely like. I feel neutral about most other characters. (Except, obviously, Mal, who I deeply dislike)

The only reason I didn't stop reading is because I want to read the books before the show is released, which is pretty soon (it's currently March 10, 2021, the show is released in the end of April)