While acknowledging its fault I very much enjoyed the precursor to this title -- The Magicians and Mrs. Quent -- there was enough wit to the drawing room and interest to the socio-political and class dynamics to forgive some of its faults. And it looked like this was going to an interesting place.

Sadly, that's not what happens. All the faults of the first book are magnified here and what's worse are delivered in almost 700 pages of text. The book is slack -- in its plotting, in its characterization, in its wit, in its world-building, in its writing. Frankly, it bores. I stuck with it in the hopes that the ending might provide some hope, but it does not. It is quite anticlimactic. There many mistakes, including glossing over what could be the most interesting scenes (really Rafferdy is entirely wasted in this book), but the key one is that the real bad guys are kept entirely off-screen. That's okay if they become big-time bosses in the final fight, but in fact, they're not. Just pathetic schemers.

I'm sad to report that this is quite the disappointment.