Toxic Heart

Disappointing follow-up to MYSTIC CITY (which I liked better, well enough to read this book).

Main complaints:

The heroine carried the Idiot Ball as though it were the Olympic Torch. (Thank you, TV Tropes, for that perfect trope name.) Her dumb decisions were required to drive the plot forward, and I like plots that locomote with minimal stupidity from major characters. The dialogue overflowed with “As you know, Bob” moments where two characters discussed things both of them already knew, just to remind or inform the readers. And there was a long villainous monologue where a bad guy delayed doing The Thing That Will Give Me All The Power in order to explain his/her plan to the good guys.

Sadly–though I liked the unique setting and the cool world-building in the first book–I'm not sure I'll be picking up the finale of this trilogy, unless the reviews are convincingly positive.