This review contains unmarked spoilers. I consider them minor to the plot, but you never know.

First off, the bad: I didn't think each level of death had enough description, and what details were included made each stage so similar that I wondered why Nix created so many levels; I also wondered how/why good spirits deliberated at any given level (as is sometimes implied they do) if the river constantly pulled them forward to the next. I would also have liked to know who Mogget was before he became Mogget as we know him. He may have a vendetta now, after so many generations of servitude, but what sparked the need for that long ago Abhorsen to bind him?

The good: There's really too much to list, and I don't think I could do this book justice anyway. But I can try. This book features a sarcastic cat, magic, spell casters, demons, demon-zombies, thrills, a competant heroine who doesn't judge her self-worth on whether or not her crush likes her, and romance (very subdued, a plus for me). I just couldn't put this book down, and as soon as I'm able, I'm going to buy the rest of the series. I love you, Garth Nix. I hope you don't mind.