While we'll written, this story is a bit self absorbed for me. The action takes a back seat to the emotion and introspection. Struggled to get though it and I think I would have been better to give up early, it's not a book that has positive mental impact, it's depressing on many levels and has few redeeming aspects. It lacks a sense of balance and eventual you may feel all the characters have identical mental challenges being totally self absorbed with little basis for actions and a lack of real emotional response. That's the fundamental problem I had with the book all the characters are mentally the same and therefore, boring. I don't think I will bother with the next one, story itself is ok but the balance that the first books had was lost.