The setting was what drew me in and kept me interested. The writing was pretty solid, the pages oozed with character. The book never bored me, but it felt like it should have been so much more. So much deeper, and more poignant, and more memorable. I kept thinking to myself, "You have the backdrop and the characters, do something exciting with it!"
But not much happened. The sort-of twist in the third part (act?) was a stab at making it something more intriguing, but it still felt oddly low-key. Low-key isn't bad, but I wanted more from this.
Bigger. Better.