I contemplated giving this book 2 stars but when I searched for things I liked, I came up empty. SO 1 star it is. I really liked Ahdieh’s former works so I sometimes double checked if this book REALLY was written by her. Neither the plot nor the characters captured me. Or maybe I was so annoyed by the characters, the repetitiveness of descriptions and the unnecessary drama that I lost sight of the plot (which probably did have potential, don’t ask me). Like, we get that Bastien is effing gorgeous (it’s YA, so this is expected albeit mind-numbingly boring), we get that the Court of the Lions is oh so dangerous, we get that there is more to Celine than meets the eye. Please, dear author, you don’t have to tell us over and over again, your readers aren’t dumb. And maybe I would’ve believed that Celine is an interesting character if there was more show and less tell, if her actions would’ve spoken for herself. The members of the Court of the Lions could’ve been interesting as well, if they appeared more often or if they would’ve left a more lasting impression. It often took me quite some time to recognize their names. And do net let yourself be deceived, calling this thing a book about vampires is very exaggerated. I weep for the money I’ve spent on this.