This was a compelling read, but I'm becoming irritated with Gillen's developing habit of killing characters that I like. I like books where it's clear that nobody is safe - anyone is fair game for the sake of the plot - but I want to be able to connect emotionally to all of the characters in those books so that no matter who survives, I'm still invested in how the plot progresses. I am still looking forward to the third volume, but they'll need to work to keep me interested in the series at this point, unless Persephone is going to pull a resurrection out of a hat.