I read this book without previously reading the first two. I had hoped that it would give a little more background at the beginning of this book, even as a third book, but there really wasn't. It took a good while to get and idea of what was going on. Once I understood the setting a little more, I didn't really enjoy the plotline. One of the things that I dislike in fantasy/science fiction books is when authors try to combine mechanics or modern technology with magic. There are some authors who can do it well, but this one was not well done. The boundary between machine and magic just did not flow well, and there was not enough information on the magic's limits. For books like Eragon or the Moratal Instruments, there is a deeper sense of the magical part of the story. In this book, it baiscally said: "Oh, she has magic, and it can break barriers. Yay." Also, the storyline in itself was very predictable. The troubles with her "boyfriend", the trouble with Eve being like the pefect person and making Lark misjudge herself, and the fight against an all powerful organization that thinks it's doing something good for the sake of the nation were all bad renditions of things that I have read before.