Holy crap this book was incredible! It was so much better than the first one. (And the first one was great!)
The character development was CRAZY GOOD; Todd grew so much. So many things happen to him in this book. He got stronger but had to go through some pretty horrible stuff to do so.
So many of my opinions were changed. I ended up loving characters I hated and understanding them. Let me just say I hate Mayor Prentiss but I freaking love to hate him. He is definitely the most incredible antagonist I haver ever read about. One of the villains that I hate to admire but certainly do.
Also, Mystress Coyle was so confusing for me. I never knew if she was good or bad. Her intentions were never actually clear until the end of the book. I was kinda bothered by this (probably on purpose - thanks, Ness) but I also loved the twists that had to do with her.
I loved how throughout the book we really get to know the two different sides of the "war" but which one is good and which one is bad is never really clarified. In the beginning, it's obvious which side is the good one. However, towards the end, everything just takes a different turn than expected and pretty much changes everything.
This book was so well written and thought out. Everything happened smoothly and made sense. I did not expect absolutely ANYTHING that happened in any part of the book. Incredible sequel to the first book, really scared (and excited) for the last book. Obviously 5 stars.