While I enjoyed the history and the magic of the houses I was put off by the actions of the characters. They did not make sense to me most of the time. The book offers very little introspection so it's difficult to tell why they behaved in such an erratic way.

I thought that since it's a YA book it would lack the all too common erotization of vampires sucking blood, which gives me the ick, but no such luck.

Overall, I liked parts of the magical world but it lacked cohesiveness in my opinion and I was left with so many unanswered questions that I doubt a second book could answer.

Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this advance copy.