So this book was exactly as expected. Shinn has gotten quite good in this series, although her fascination with inventing the car in fantasy worlds shows no sign of abating.
My problem with this series is that I pretty much go into it with "Wait, who was that guy? What's happening? THAT happened in the last book?" and no recollection of what had happened until Shinn refreshes my memory in the pages of this new book. Not a bad thing and, honestly, not every book needs to be brain-searingly memorable. I like these much better as they are. Fun stories about individual girls functioning in a fascinating magic system who get to save the day and, at the same time, meet a guy. Seriously, what more could I ask for?

(Spoiler alert:

I thought the handling of same sex attraction was...decently done. I would like the gay man marries lesbian and both have great sex with other people to be proven in the text to be good for both rather than just a great suggestion. I was much more annoyed by the character pretending to be confined to a wheelchair for the entire book when it turns out that, whoops, he can walk. Sigh. It's not played as him being rescued, but it's a waste of representation.

)