I'm going to jump right into the most complaints I saw. A lot of the poor reviews discussed how this book was pretty cliche. And that is not a wrong assessment. A plain (but probably still conventionally attractive) female protagonist figures out she has a special something, becomes beautiful and useful, and has a bit of a love triangle.
Was it cliche?
Yes.
Here is the problem with cliches today. As a writer I hate them, as I reader I acknowledge that cliches are cliches for a reason, they are popular and fun to read. Was it a little annoying? Yes, but I was still giddy every time Aline, the protag, made a romantic advancement. Almost everything is a cliche now, so you sometimes have to dig deeper.
I had heard a lot about the Darkling before starting these book, so I was sort of expecting what happened, but I was still shocked. That was plus one, Leigh Bardugo. I still like the Darkling, although I'm pretty sure I shouldn't.
Prose-wise this book was very easy to get through (as aforementioned I got through it in one sitting). It's nothing exceptional but it gets the job done. I liked this setting and the plot line, I thought it was very interesting. Although, like a lot of other people I do wish the Russian influence was more accurate and clear. I love Russian history, and I think the mark was missed there.
Overall, did I enjoy this book? Yes.
Am I excited to get to the next one? Medium. I feel like I lost a lot of the tension with the ending. Maybe I'm the only one. But what was the main plot of the story kind of was over. Granted there is a new plot, but it's a little off for me. We'll see, I'll definitely be reading it.
What would I rate this book? A tentative 4/5. It was enjoyable, even with the cliches. But I feel like it could have been more.
