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** spoiler alert ** SPOILERS AHEAD

Ahhh, the DIFFICULT second book in a trilogy -- the one that needs to move the plot along, dispose of old characters and add new ones, and set up the finale for maximum impact. This one suffers from a couple of not uncommon problems, the most important of which is that the entire plot basically requires the characters to love each other but not be able to communicate at all for various reasons -- which leads to MANY MANY MANY scenes of Violet screeching to herself that she Must Nobly Remain Silent To Save Others No Matter The Cost To Her, and then randomly reversing her decisions because she wants to have sex or feels guilty, and then reversing AGAIN when she's feeling more logical.

The villains are basically avatars of pure evil because this author isn't good at depicting the subtler motivations that would lead someone to truly BELIEVE they were doing the right thing by, for instance, torturing someone. Instead we get a Snidely Whiplash type, veritably twirling his villainous mustachios while lurking in the corridors of the academy; the well-nigh miraculous return of an old enemy; and a new romantic rival.

Nevertheless, the pages turned! I did have to read the book twice because I found I couldn't follow the plot very well the first time, and some of the most important "clues" can be very brief -- a mere word or two in a reasonably long conversation. And of course the story ended with some of the author's massive cliffhangers. It's hard to see how the author can maintain the frame of three years at a military academy considering the events of this volume, but I'm looking forward to seeing how Yarros wraps up her story.