I don’t know if I’ve been out of this ‘verse for so long that it was just difficult to return, or if my tastes have changed, or if there just really is a huge difference between this book and the previous one. Either way, this one was dismayingly similar to the rest of its genre: a divided organization, reunions and separations, hidden talents and secrets, and of course

Spoiler

a tough choice between two brothers

. It seemed like Ruby was passing out at the end of every other chapter, and the inconsistent use of irregularly spelled nicknames (Roo and Lee especially) kept throwing me off.

Look, you just know it’s bad when

Spoiler

a major character death

elicits an eye roll instead of empathy. Though I did find Jude pretty annoying throughout the book, but not as much so as Ruby.