Really good. The story somehow maintains a level of momentum even as it progresses through high and low stakes scenes.

Quality may depend on how the reader can tolerate having Alex "Will definitely hide the zombie bite he got if he were in a zombie film" Soulcreek as a protagonist.

Narration can also feel like it's waxing poetic, but that's me. Other people may enjoy that.

I think the final villain ended up not being as good as they could have been. Before their heel turn they were such an interesting and nuanced character beyond the dreadful rumors about them, but the moment they drop the mask, they become singular-minded on running the world on "might makes right". There may be something to be said about how their darkest desires and the resentments they still held turned them into a mere puppet for the true evil of the world, but it means the final fight doesn't have as much of that "battle of philosophies" that I would have liked.