3 hours 3 minutes - I cannot decide whether I like this book better than the first one or not. It is very much a continuation of the first - in fact, if not for the fact these are separate books, I would not be able to tell where one finished and the other began, which was fine considering I am reading these back to back. I think the way Nico is written is pretty well done - sometimes the manipulation is a little too conspicuous, but for the most part he takes the role he is meant to, of a cold, careful puppet-master. Despite this being a reread, it has been years, so the twists and turns were not predictable for me. In fact, there was one at the end which really left me feeling how the main character felt in that moment - betrayed. The ending of this book was also better than the last one, leaving it on a good cliff-hanger which isn't just confusing. However, at earlier points in this book, I found it a bit too slow at times, so overall I think it evens out to be about on par with the first book.