I think in my memory it was tainted by proximity to the later ones, especially APoD (the worst book, IMHO; nothing happens except Elaynes horse is killed shortly after they FINALLY use the Bowl, and Rand spends many bloody chapters fighting the Seanchan to a savage draw that leaves things as they were at the start of the book, minus a lot more semi-major characters--plus it's the only book from which Mat is wholly absent. )

Still, the whole point of a re-read is to refresh details that may have become murky or even forgotten; just a little while ago I was embarrassed to learn that failure to re-read KoD before posting a theory caused me to think Elaida knew of the plan for Reds to Bond Asha'man when she clearly doesn't. I don't expect you to forget the Cleansing or even Aginors (second and likely final) death there, but who was present and did what would likely benefit from a re-read. I'd like to re-read the whole series as well, as I did before KoD (in fact the day it was released I went and bought my reserved copy, then stared at it out of the corner of my eye for the day it took me to re-read all of CoT myself) I just don't have the time.

If you're like me, however, ACoS is the last book that will improve on re-read, with the possible exception of KoD. The first seven books were good, and 4-6 truly great, IMHO, but after ACoS it's always felt to me like Jordan was trying to pad things out to an artificially and symbolically selected number of twelve or thirteen books (which has gone out the window since Sanderson has decided against both Jordans insisted plan to make AMoL one final volume AND Tors insisted plans to make it two. ) It's not even a case of there being very little action (though there isn't, with a few frenetic exceptions) the plot itself doesn't advance very much apart from the Cleansing and the Bowl. Hence the lines in Isams parodies of the later books about "at all costs we must avoid doing anything. "

There's an object lesson in that; as a direct result KoD feels more rushed than I feared it would, and since it spends about two thirds of its length resolving Failes kidnapping (a plotline introduced, IIRC, in the Epilogue to APoD and that nearly ruins the later books, IMHO) I expected AMoL to be even MORE rushed as Jordan hurried to wrap up the whole series in a single massive volume. That Sanderson has chosen to split the final volume into THREE books likely weighing in at over three quarters of a million words indicates he agrees.