To be completely honest, I never fully connected with any of the characters. Bits and pieces, sure — Lazlo's fixation on Weep, his desire for adventure; Sarai's loneliness, her sense of always being on the outside; even Minya's all-encompassing determination to protect herself and her little family — but it really felt like Lazlo and Sarai in particular were more personifications of ideas than individuals. They had backstories and desires, but ... I don't know, it's almost like they were missing something.

Sometimes the prose stretched itself a little too far, I thought, particularly in regards to high-intensity emotional scenes. Most of it was just lovely, though.

The setting and plot, though? Those were masterfully constructed, and I have no critiques there (except that it would've been easy to casually slip in more non-heterosexual relationships). I absolutely have to know what happens next, and I'll be keeping an eager eye out for the sequel!

*squee* The ending made me so, so happy. Team Cole! After all, "That's kind of hot, the evil thing." And I enjoyed the backstory memory/flashbacks.

Did a great job tying together all elements, including various characters' side stories, together through a mystery omniscent narrator whose identity delighted me. Intriguing and vivid.

Mystery, deception, suspicious characters, sisterhood, humor, and light romance - while not quite a standout narrative, it was pretty good and I enjoyed it.