It's been a while since I read the first book in this series - I kind of got sidetracked by Carriger's related Finishing School series - so it was nice to get back into it. I just felt like something fun and flippant to read today, and this fit the bill. I continue to like Alexia, despite finding her a wee bit smug, and as with the FS series I really do enjoy most of the supporting characters. Ivy, especially, I find hilarious, in a trainwreck sort of way. I thought the plot was a bit stronger this time as well - certainly it was more focused - and the idea behind it all was really interesting: a weapon that could temporarily neutralise both vampires and werewolves. What that weapon turned out to be, and what it means for future instalments in the series, was fantastic.

The only downside for me was Maccon, who I've never found all that attractive, and whose character, never very thick in the first place, has become paper thin. All he seems to do here is roar and flirt, and he's not interesting enough at either to care about. I sincerely hope the next volume sees Alexia, Ivy, Madame Lefoux and Lord Akeldama politicking on their own and without too much drama from Alexia's tiresome husband, the Werewolf Stomp-A-Lot, as I've taken to calling him. Carriger's characters always seem to have much more appealing friendships than relationships...