Oh my God. I don't know how I'm feeling yet. I knew the last 100 pages would pack a punch, but oof. 

The book is definitely much more plot-heavy than the last two and like Iron Flame, there are a few background characters we get to know much better (Ridoc, in particular) which I loved. I love that we're discovering more of this world and how Yarros is almost leaning more into the intricating fantasy world-building than you'd expect from a romantasy series. A lot of my complaints about Iron Flame are corrected in this book, Xaden and Violet are a team as much as they can be and that is SO refreshing. This book also deviates a bit from the war school and war plot to have an adventure/quest storyline which is a lot of fun. I love getting to know more of the world and seeing Violet interact with characters that we don't normally see her with, and I love her coming into her own and recognizing that she has to be a leader because Tairn is a leader.

I also love how Yarros subverts expectations of Violet being the most special snowflake, for lack of a better term, that so often happens in romantasy books. Or even just fantasy books in general! Violet is not a God reborn, she doesn't have a special lineage, she is just Violet who had the determination and compassion to have endeared Andarna, and that's it! She's special because a very special dragon looked at her and said: I choose you. I love that. I love it when characters are special because of who they are, not some pre-destined/biological thing.

Per usual, the ending has my brain spinning with new questions and old theories that haven't been proven or disproven. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book and am so excited to see what is in store for us next. 

As I stated of the previous books: It's not a masterpiece, but it's so much fun and what is reading about if not having fun?