This was a phenomenal second book - not at all the placeholder second books usually become. The past and present were beautifully woven together, from "pre-Crossing" with Lily and William Tear, to the history of the new world/the Tear/Raleigh lines, and the Mort invasion of the Tearling in present time. The pace was wonderful and the story was well developed. The continuation of old characters' stories and introduction of new blended well. I really enjoyed many of the smaller story lines, like Ewen (especially Ewen), Aisa (I always have a soft spot for this character, in any book), Maddy and Father Tyler. And I am dying to read the next one now, with this book ending on so many cliff hangers. Where is the crown? What is Finn Rowland up to? What is the Fetch's story (still waiting on that)? And who is Kelsea's father? And really, I'm interested in Kelsea and Pen - I think it's a great way to introduce relationships into the story in a believable but understated way, with only a little YA cliche, and I want to see where that ends up. Also, I really appreciated all the darker, more mature, themes brought to light in this book; everything from domestic and sexual assault, to acceptance of differences (i.e. homosexuality), to religious and brainwashing institutions, to cutting and self abuse, to sexual debut as a teenager, and the many angles on birth control that are covered. Many YA books skirt some of these topics, gloss over, them, pretend they don't exist, or have unrealistic representations of the actions and people associated with them. I think it's all the stronger that these themes are brought up both in a new/fantasy world and also in an older, dystopia version of the future of our world - it make the reality stronger. The one aspect that rings strange is the sapphires, and the magic in general. I just am not sure how I feel about them dropping into the story in William Tear's possession, conveniently getting them to this new world. At that point, I accept all the magic or lack thereof as an understood invention of the time/place they crossed to, as necessary with all fantasy books. But their origin in a futuristic version of our current world seemed just slightly hard to swallow. All in all, I would actually say that this second installation was better than the first, really drawing me in and keeping me turning the page, so I can't wait to see how everything gets wrapped up in the final.