3.75
funny lighthearted slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: No

this book started out so funny - its wit reminded me of the best parts of terry pratchett and t kingfisher, amd while the turns of phrase continued to be great throughout, the book slowed down so much about halfway through (
during the tournament when cliff, gemma, and doria are released from the school to complete their theses
) it became a slog that even the witty phrases couldn't make particularly enjoyable. i think i would have enjoyed this book much more if the second half had been cut way down and/or we weren't following
so many POV characters
as they did their business.
i enjoyed doria's sections the least, but even gemma's were boring most of the time, and cliff's became boring as well - their plans were all so elaborate it became hard to follow given the fact that there were 3 of them, and about 100 pages from the end i gave up trying to keep all the details in mind in the interest of just finishing the damn book.


all that to say, i might give the second volume a read down the line but i won't be champing at the bit to do so, especially if it's as long as this one!