The characters have been getting less and less likeable, which makes me wish that I hadn't gotten so invested in this story. I still like Cleo a bit, but the others, most of whom I didn't like much in the first place, have been becoming more and more unpleasant. I will probably continue with the series to see what happens because the conflict is very interesting and I have no idea where the plot is going, but I hope that the author will keep Cleo likeable, and maybe make one of the other characters a bit less hateable. Even Cleo, who I don't hate is not someone who I like very much. I want her to win because she has been so wronged, but Jonas has been wronged too, and I still can't bring myself to root for him because he is so unpleasant. I liked Brion, but he wasn't a main character, and now... I liked Lucia in the last book, but she has become nastier since then. I liked Nic, but he has lost a lot of his integrity as well. Alexius seems to have taken a deeply unpleasant turn, though from the way the book was set up, I'd say he was less than good in the first book, but the author concealed his intentions from us so we wouldn't know. None of the character's relationships are realistic. Almost all of the romances are unbelievable at best and instalove at worst. The friendships are less awful, Jonas and Brion's was believable, though it wasn't something that was focused on, but Cleo and Nic, whose friendship was one of the things that made the first book, started to feel forced after Nic declared his love to her and she didn't reciprocate. Never mind that he probably already knew she didn't love him romantically, he still made his declaration and expected her to feel the same. In the first book I had the sense that he loved her--really loved her--to the point that he would give up anything for her, and didn't expect anything in return, but, while he still seems to care for her, I don't think his behavior seems to indicate real love after all.
