** spoiler alert ** This book shared some of the same dark, creepy elements that I liked in Silk, but, altogether, I think I enjoyed Silk more.

Kiernan's characters are deeply flawed and unable to fully trust each other (friends, lovers, enemies alike). Terrible things happen immediately around them, but everyone's too intent on arguing or wallowing in individual problems to take much action. It makes you feel frustrated and sad for each character, and I think Kiernan explores their faults and internal conflicts very well. But there are so many other interesting elements to the world around them that she describes and largely alludes to - that I wish she'd spent just as much time on it.

There are werewolves and changelings that live alongside human beings, playing a larger game that's only hinted at. They apparently abide by their own rules on how they interact with each other and the rest of the world, but this parallel culture is mostly revealed in bits and pieces. Primarily through the eyes of Narcissa, a hybrid whose one intent is to become accepted by them.

Kiernan's written several other novels in the same setting with many of the same characters, so it's possible she reveals more about this world in the other books.