They grew on me. Books do that sometimes, you know!

Oh, I know. Likes weeds, generally!

There is one instance of animal sacrifice at the very beginning that gets a little yucky, and then there is a really interesting group of crows who represent the body of a character from the first book (this is one of the best parts of the book, actually) and who serve as the familiar for Mab. Two of the crows "sacrifice" themselves through the course of the book.

Rats.