to be honest, I expected MUCH worse from a book with such a low average rating. But it was actually decent? Like yes, it does not live up to the standards from book 1+2, the trials only take up like a third of the whole plot, it feels a little bit like a repeat of the original series. And I get why people don't like Edel as a protagonist, she is really unlikeable - but she is supposed to be that way! Anyways, this is a decent book - but as a belated sequel, completely unnecessary and could be skipped completely.