I was annoyed in the first book at some of the characters, mainly because there were things that were either extremely dumb (thought process, actions, etc.) or ridiculously immature or inconsistent for adult characters + some bad stereotypes that didn't need to be there.

As for stereotypes, it not as bad, almost not there. But the rest is still there and I feel like I have less patient for it since this is not a debut no more. Like the two male love interest we inherited  from the first book are emotionally dumb as bricks, and it creates conflict that makes no sense in a "character growth" concept since the last book (at least for Rav, ffs). And then, Nell is sorta ok with a simple sorry because shenanigans happened, but COULDN'T. BE. ME. Throw a manchild tantrum once, shame on you. Throw another one almost similar to the first, no shame on me I'M OUT, SEE YOU NEVER.

Otherwise, even though I still think the author is good at building tension in a murder mystery kind of way, I had trouble following some of the "who's who". I don't know if it's partially the audiobook's fault but there were a few characters, all of them a suspect at ome point or another, that I felt like I could copy paste their whole vibe onto another character or two and it wouldn't have made any difference. Some very important characters didn't show up much during the whole investigation process, which is fine I guess when you have a bunch, put towards the end, I really felt like there was no way for me to find out whodunnit. I don't mind when it's because of some clue that wasn't reveal if they are a big part of the investigation, but this time around, they weren't AND a clue was missing imo.

Anyway, still kinda okay for the tension and readability, but I'm not super motivated to continue tbh