The plot was good, the writing was descriptive, the plot had many twists and turns and no questions were left at the end; it was tied up nicely in a neat a little bow.Only issue, the characters are just downright unlikable.I found the protagonist to be whiny and annoying. Yes, she had a hard life growing up, but it just got irritating- I found myself cheering on the antagonist for a majority of the book. The parts that should have made me cry didn't, the parts that should of made me feel warmth didn't. It was all because I didn't relate to or like a majority of the characters.The book was decent enough and entertaining. A good quick read for a long flight. Oh wow, where do I begin with this book. There was very little about this book that I didn't absolutely love. The main character, Bilqis SanGreal, is really amazing. I feel like she's a real person, and you really understand her character. You get to see her grow through the story line. It's gradual enough that it doesn't come out of left field, but it's not too gradual so that you completely miss it, and through her change she still remains the same character.I was a little hesitant to read this because of the whole Knights Templar thing, but that part was awesome. Even with all of that, it's not really a religious book, and I honestly still can't tell for sure if Billi really believes in the Christian God. In all honesty, there really wasn't a whole religious aspect of the book. It was there to some extent, but it wasn't the focal point.I loved how the action didn't encompass the story line. You would get some action, then get a little break, and then back to action, and then another break. You got just enough action to get into it, and then things would slow down so you wouldn't get overwhelmed, or feel like the book was moving too fast. It was nicely paced with information coming gradually so you could digest it. You find out who the bad guy is about half way to two-thirds of the way through the book, and I had gotten a little concerned, because there had still been a lot of the book left. Usually you find out who the bad person is, have this nice chase scene, and then the end. Well, this was a little different. You find out who the bad guy is, there's a plot to try and stop him, it doesn't QUITE work, and then some other things happen. In this story, the climax wasn't finding out who the bad guy was, it was finding out who was supposed to take the bad guy out. I found that rather refreshing that it was slightly different. In all, the story line was very nicely balanced, and really moved both the characters along and the plot as a whole.I truly have to thank my friend for cleaning out her bookshelves, otherwise I would have NEVER found this amazing book! So thank you again! I seriously recommend this book to just about everyone. Honestly, I just can't say enough about how awesome this book was.
