I really don't know how to review this book... I didn't like the first half and would not have finished it had it not been that I was reading it for my bookclub... and Gideon. I love Gideon's sass, snark, all that stuff she's made up of. I was so confused by who the characters were, how to pronounce their names, the different terms used to refer to them... I wish I had known to LOOK IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK!!! The glossary and info woulda been great...
Okay, so the story confused me. I didn't know what the point of the trip to the First House was, until I read through a bit more. Was it lost in translation? Did I just not follow along properly? I really don't know. Also, What was the POINT of the "trials"? To be Lyctor, yes, but what was the point of the ODD TRIALS? To prove they could do certain things with their necromantic skills? And since Gideon was the MC of this book, why didn't she participate until over halfway through? Because Harrow is a bitch, yes, BUT SERIOUSLY, she WANDERED for DAYS/WEEKS and the story got stale... This is all just my opinion obviously and others have loved this book. I think I'd like it more if I reread it, because I'd know some background to help me understand WHAT THE F WAS HAPPENING. Again, I was confused. Also, it felt like the author worked a little too hard to come up with synonyms for so many things. I get it, you don't want to use the same words too often and become boring, but I had to look up too many words. Or the word was used obscurely and it made me do a double take. And "myriad" was used... so many times.... But, I give the author kudos. I learned some awesome new vocabulary and I'm much more knowledgeable about typical "English" words as opposed to the "American" stuff I usually read. And those disgustingly detailed fight scenes with the grotesque explanations... BLECH! They were awesome and gross, and I had to stop eating during a few (yes, I eat while I read. Or, I read while I eat..). Okay, so this only gets lower stars because I really just did not like huge chunks of the story. The beginning was confusing, the explanations of the places was long and confusing... Again I will say, If I were to reread this, I'd probably enjoy it a lot more. At this point, I don't know if I will read the next book.