I was hoping this would go somewhere a little more interesting than it did (it wasn't bad at all, and I think the ending fits fine), but I always have a solid reaction to Ruth Ware's books rather than an ecstatic one. She's an author I continue reading because I feel like she won't "wow" me, but she won't frustrate me, either.

The build-up and atmosphere was very good, I felt. I was anxious reading it and not completely sure what was behind the major mystery until pretty late, and even then I couldn't quite figure out how it had happened. There was another part of the mystery that I assume was supposed to be very obvious, since pretty obvious hints were dropped very early on.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and I'm sure I'll pick up her next one.

2020 is apparently going to be the year of "...wait, what do you mean that's the end?!" for me.

I will wait for my Audible credits to come in before buying the next one. It's only a few days. Please wish me luck in this.

Unlike the first one, which felt like it started slowly, this started with some pretty intense feelings and honestly remained high through most of the book. If you liked the first one, this is a great follow-up. I liked that it roped me right back into the world, despite having read the first one a bit ago. It answers questions, it brings up new ones, it links back a ton of things from the first book in a very interesting way, and I have about a dozen things I want to look into historically.

This jumps forward in time from the end of the first book, then back to fill in some gaps, and it honestly works really well. There's lots of politics, I laughed aloud, I'm very ready for the next one, and I am not sure why I waited so long to read this.