What I liked:
Jest- Jest was hot. If there's something that Meyer does well, it's writing swoon-worthy man candy. Yellow eyes and a sense of humor? Sign me up. As the story progressed, though, I liked Jest less and lest. <-- (lol typo. i'm keeping it though. it's perfect.) He ending up feeling more like a plot device and less like the actual amazing character he could have been. I liked the idea of Jest, I guess.
Bakery dreams- I looooved the baking elements of this story. That Cath wanted to be a baker was actually an awesome dream to me. It was realistic and made me so hungry. I also really adored the friendship between Cath and Mary Ann, her maid, and how they wanted to become partners in business. That did not end well, though...
What I didn't like:
Heel turn- Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the whole gimmick of giving an evil character a sweet backstory, in the hopes of humanizing the villain and being all: underneath all the head choppy choppies, she's really just a good person who was hurt too badly. I'd rather read about a bitch who was always that way. In this book, Cath went from fair maiden to demon from hell in a snap. It felt forced and unnatural to me.
Immature elements- Again, might just be me, but some of these characters just screamed IMMATURE to me. Like the King. Pathetic. I think I might have read too much YA in a row again. Oops, my bad. Also, the romance between Cath and Jest was pretty weak. They hardly had any reason to fall in love. I didn't buy it. Give Jest to me. I'll show him what love is. lol
Slow pacing in the beginning- Because of the fast-paced, futuristic Lunar Chronicles, I was put off by this book being the exact opposite. It was like the author was trying her hand at a "historical fiction" feel here, but it really just succeeded in making the first 2/3 of the book slow and, dare I say it, boring.
Rushed pacing in the ending- On the other end of the spectrum, especially compared to the slow start, the ending of this book was incredibly rushed. You get used to the slow pace after a while, and then ALL OF A SUDDEN, everything is happening and you can't keep up and so I found myself racing to the end, just to get it finished.
After a while, it was hard to care what happened. I mean, we all knew how this was going to end anyway...