I had a hard time getting into this book, at no fault to the book, I was just in a slump, so the first have of the book felt like it dragged on forever. Once I got halfway through, I was hooked on the story. Things moved slower in the first half, and there was a time jump, which made it hard for me to stay engaged. I couldn't keep track of the characters and the setting in the first half, but by the halfway point I got a grip on who was whom. This book really expanded on our understanding of the world, especially the history and the conflict between the different groups. What I liked about this book, which was also present in the first one, was how complex the conflict is. In this book, we get the different points of view which really expands our understanding of each side. We get to know the motivations of all the characters much better in this book and this just makes it that much harder to decide who to root for. Each side has done horrible things in the name of their cause or for revenge, so even though they have valid arguments it's hard to root for them. Not to mention, each side of the conflict has some good motivation and some bad. For example, Manizheh was justified in wanting to take down the Qahtanis, but her views on the Shafit were terrible, especially considering her daughter is a Shafit. And then we see the Shafit who obviously are oppressed and we want to root for them, but they allegedly are attacking Daevas whenever the Daevas aren't being protected. Overall it's hard to know which side of the conflict we want to succeed, but at the end of the day, I support Nahri. I especially loved seeing Nahri's development throughout this book and seeing the difference from the first book. It's clear that being manipulated and blackmailed has taken a terrible toll on Nahri, not to mention everything that happened between her and Dara before he died. But through this struggle she remains strong in her beliefs, she learns about her ignorance and makes an effort to change how things are. And ultimately she is able to push through everything that has happened to her and find a piece of the strong self-sufficient girl she used to be. She takes charge of her own destiny and doesn't give in to the pressures that are placed on her by everyone around her. I think her character was very well written in this book and her development was organic and satisfying. 
Overall I enjoyed the book, and if I were to reread it I would like it even more.