I love the hero and the story behind the baddies.
I loved hearing about the de-evolution of the group that created the monster-maker. Very interesting. I'd love to hear even more. And I found a few other things interesting: 1) did it seem like there was a hint of a foreshadowing of an attempt by the Weird to sabotage or invade the Broken? I'm just thinking of Ellie's reaction to hearing about William & Declan's training on how to do this. But then again, what purpose would it serve? If they stay too long in the Broken, they lose their magic. Well, it sparked a thought.
And I'm really wondering why Declan joined the Red Guard, why he didn't want to be an Earl in the first place. He seems like he loves his family and vice versa. Maybe they've been too overbearing? They pressured him too much initially? It sounds like a very interesting backstory.
And I couldn't quite understand the strength of William's issues with Declan having a loving family. I understand his being upset, etc., but he really seemed to hate him and want to kill him, so is there more to this story? Since the next story will be William's, hopefully we'll get to hear more.