" So when I picked this up, I had no idea it was actually the fifth in this series, but rather I believed it to be a sort of side story. The good thing is, it doesn't seem to require much backstory, as the characters try to explain it all to you. What did bother me was how those characters and narration overly explained EVERYTHING. Little things, which should be expressed by how a person stands or the words they say, the authors instead just 'tell'. As is when you're in English class and your teachers asks you to "show, not tell" to make your writing better. In all honesty, this book read like it was for VERY young readers, younger than I'd assumed, reading stuff like the Hunger Games & Harry Potter series. The characters were also very plain and dry, and the only one who really felt like a real person was Armstrong. However, as this is a very popular series, I will try to go back and read the first novel, because that could just be the missing link. I certainly hope there's a lot less of this over the top leading action business. The book reads the first section of another book, very empty feeling once I finished.
Without giving any spoilers, I am bothered by the fact that in the middle, something is explained as A+B=C, and then later, it seems like a A+B=R when R does not equal C, if you follow me. Perhaps that's something for book 5 to further explain though. "
— Cideon, 2/18/2014