I love the creatures in this world. They’re so cute and whimsical and loveable. I love that Sophie gets to live with a family who are caretakers for all these creatures because it really resonates with me on a personal level. It has been over a year since I read the first book in this series but I remembered all the characters easily, and that’s because Messenger does such a good job with character work and development. She cleaned up her prose from the first book and I enjoyed how the storyline developed in this installment. I like that we still aren’t sure who the Black Swan is and whether they’re good or bad–morally grey for the win! This book made me feel a full range of emotions and its nearly 600 pages flew by. Loved it!