What a book! Obviously no spoilers - but THAT ENDING!

I listened to this as an audio during a long holiday car drive and was torn between being on the edge of my seat and audibly laughing the whole way through - cannot recommend the audio enough. I truly love El and Orion with all my heart; Novik has their conversations and internal dialogue down to a T and I can see all their facial expressions with complete clarity.
Before I went into this series someone told me to make sure I listen to the narrator as someone delivering a black comedy rather than a "serious" fantasy and I don't doubt that this attitude made all the difference. Every disaster that could possibly happen, happened, and then some. As if all their lives weren't hard enough just trying to survive, El begins to be plagued by thoughts that turn out to be what some people would call 'having a conscience' making the school year that extra bit challenging (read: near impossible).
The female friendships in here were so beautifully fleshed out, and even the slowest slow-burn romance (she hates him, obviously) blossomed into a select few precious moments.
I will be eagerly anticipating Book 3 to complete the trilogy.