I enjoyed this book much more than I did the first one in the series; even if I didn't have the first book to compare it to, it still holds up well on its own. I was interested the entire way through and the writing was great. Many things I had a problem with in the first book have been dealt with, and I can almost stand the love triangle aspects of the story.

Besides spelling Edward's name wrong on page 65 (I'm surprised nobody caught that before it hit the press), the quality of the novel has really increased compared to the previous one. The writing was pleasant, the mood was set very nicely, the character interactions felt real, and the plot was interesting to follow.

Juliet's fear of ending up like her father was better done in this book, and it was great to see how her cure only fixed her physical ailments and not her mind because it would've been disappointing to have that whisked away through sheer medical ingenuity. No, it was very good to leave that as it was because it formed her character and her development wouldn't have meant much without it still there in the end.

I didn't care much for Juliet giving herself to Edward mindless then refusing Montgomery later on, but her passion was well written and the descriptions kept me interested in their relationships before and after this moment. I still don't approve of the usual whiplash of love affections that love triangles have, which usually results in the choice of the one over the other for vague reasons, but all the interactions were done well and the writing definitely helped with that.

Normally I roll my eyes when obvious references are made to other references in the genre, but I did like the Mr. Jakyll pun and the Mr. Hide and Mr. Seek reference to Stevenson's story. The reference at the end to Frankenstein felt forced and that had me rolling my eyes, but we'll see how it progresses in the sequel.

I think my preference for this book over the previous one, besides the increase in writing quality, was the setting. The author was good at setting the mood, but more so having the plot take place in the city was much more welcoming. Combined with her good use of description, I found myself pulled into this one easier. The interactions with the characters and the setting felt real, and that was a good change from the previous book.

Juliet's decisions were made properly, her feelings felt true, and the plot flowed nicely; this is something that I don't always find in YA, so it was a good reading experience. The ending felt a bit rushed (the last chapter or so, at least) in terms of the denouement, but the final plot point was well done, the story was well paced, and the scenes progressed logically. I liked the resolution to the happenings in this book (interested how it almost paralleled the solution in the last one) and I look forward to the next one, although I wish it ended on a better note. Revealing Elizabeth's heritage felt pointless that late and I would've preferred it to happen earlier (or for a bit more plot to follow after it) or for it to wait until the next book, but I guess I'll have to wait until the final book to see how well the decision was made.

I'm looking forward to the next book more than I was this one after my experience with the first book, because after reading how much better it had gotten I definitely had an interest in the plot. The love triangle fell in importance and it became more about righting wrongs and fixing things, so I'm glad that I have a different outcome to look forward to in the finale.