I liked the first half of this book more than second half, but that probably has a lot more to do with the fact that the second half felt largely like a setup for the rest of the series (which concerns me a bit, knowing that Butler never finished this series). I was very riveted by the set up to this world at the edge of breaking. The journey north just kind of lost me a bit. I will say, I was a bit taken aback to find another very drastic age difference romance in a Butler novel. It wasn’t as creepy as Fledgling because Lauren is young but doesn’t have the appearance of an actual child. But a just-barely-an-adult heroine having a sexual relationship with an old man is still kinda icky and it’s entirely possible that it put me off the ending of the book a bit.