What pushed this from a three-star to a five-star was the end. I won't detail it here because it would be an OMG-I HATE YOU FOREVER-SPOILER, but seriously, it made me freak out. In a good way. In a way where I can't WAIT to see what Gleason does in the next book.

I've also started charting the BtVS-Gardella parallels. So far it's pretty interesting. There's a subchart for J.R. Ward parallels, but those pretty much died with Aunt Eustacia and the constant use of "vero". That tick really annoyed me, because it made me read that character like one of Ward's vampires who were always ending their sentences with "true". And trust me, it's not flattering to read Eustacia like Rehvenge or Phury. Mostly because it would require changing her name to Ehustacia. :p