Kelly
Phoenix was difficult to read, as there was little to no back story provided to refresh your memory about Black City, the first novel in the series. Sadly, Phoenix only launched into the continuation. It wasn't until I was over half way through when I begun to remember, and by then my interest wasn't there.
I really enjoyed Black City, but didn't want to reread it just to continue the series, but still had to skim through to understand what was going on in Phoenix.