I have yet to miss a book in this series but I wished I did this one. The family history was confusing especially when the author kept referring to them differently -- one sentence a character might be referred to as Great-Great grandfather and the next it would be Leatha's grandfather. Also, I was confused as to a character that had a different name than what was on the family tree so I had no clue what was going on -- I did go back and re-read portions after I had read an except of a diary entry and the light went on but reading 120 pages for a light to blink... well, 'nuff said.Once I figured out who the characters all were, the plot was so obvious it hurt and to have to read China being braindead with her questions to figure out the truth was less than thrilling.Had I not had the prior history of this series, I would have never made it through this book.Let's hope the next one get's back to the roots of China (and McQuaid).