This is a great book, with well-developed characters and a timeless story about justice, prejudice and small town hatreds.

Once you get past the first chapter, this book is a page turner. Adult Harry Potter fans with love this story about a magical school that is supposed to protect teens but often ends up killing them. Check out the sequel at the same time because Naomi Novik loves cliffhangers.

Overall this was a typical formula written book that had a tidy ending. The characters were developed enough to be interesting and the supporting cast kept the story moving. The ending was to abrupt after so much build up and it was packaged complete with a bow, so a little to unbelievable. While I didn’t love this book, I didn’t hate it either. It fell solidly in the meh category, but was fine for a quick weekend read.