This is immensely better than the first book, in my opinion, and definitely my favorite book in the series. In fact, it's the only one that I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading.
However, there are still many parts, mainly regarding the writing style, that bug me. The comprehension of this entire series could be vastly improved with more breaks within the chapters. There are too many instances where things just jump from one day to the next out of nowhere, and it's a bit tedious and confusing to keep up with. The writing in this one isn't quite as bad as the first, though.