After reading the first volume, I was hoping this one would also surprise me in some way but unfortunately it didn't. To begin with, I wasn't thrilled to see that the narrator had been replaced, since Stephanie Wolfe had done an exceptional job in the previous volume, especially when it came to represent the different characters going so far as doing accents according to the nationality of each one. For example, with Russian characters we had a Russian accent. This made a big difference while following the story because the characters sounded very similar.

In addition to that, despite having an appealing synopsis which promised to have confrontations with the so feared Strigoi, the story was even more predictable than the previous. But that's not all, since the character Rose still leaves something to be desired. It's true, she grows a little but it's amazing how can she be so blind when the answers to some questions are right in front of her. The only positive aspect of this book, in my opinion, was to learn more about the fifth element, the spirit, which is part of the Moroi magic and that more Moroi use it even if they don't fully understand it, since it was an unknown power until the previous volume.

While many levels below the previous one, it still entertained me on a boring afternoon doing various household chores but I don't think that I'll continue following this series.