This was very disappointing for me as a whole, though I did enjoy the overarching plot and some sections of it were done pretty well. This book lacked plot and character development that actually happened on page and wasn't simply implied. It ultimately came down to being a "Tell, Don't Show" type narrative for me. Chapters were very short, and a lot of chapters ended abruptly when I would be expecting some more personal relationship or plot development to play out on page. 

This was the author's first adult marketed book and it did feel that way at times with it reading more like YA with some open door but not (to me) extremely explicit romance scenes. 

I wanted to enjoy this so much more than I did in the end. For a book this length, I never truly felt that I knew the characters very intimately. This was a particular area where I felt frustrated while reading because chapters that were finally providing this information would suddenly end, seemingly mid-conversation.

The ending wasn't especially compelling to draw me to the next book (I assume there is another?), but I would consider reading it since the first move into a new area of publishing is always a tough as an established author.