I liked but did not love this book, the second in Naomi Novik's planned Scholomance trilogy. The world building is spectacular, a school without any teachers or set rules set in a void surrounded by mysterious monsters that kill roughly half of the students every year, but that itself is better than what happens in the world itself. The characters are decent and got a little better in this one. The plot dragged for much of the book but picked up in the last quarter or so. And when I say it is dark, it is genuinely so without any sappy anything underneath. And some surprising twists and turns. And the ending will definitely send me to what should be the concluding volume, whenever it comes out.