I did not know very much about this novel and I solely picked it up because I love Naomi Novik's writing. The story started right from the first page and I definitely fell in love with it and felt instantly connected to the main characters and especially Temeraire. The audiobook really helped me with that and I read in two sittings. The writing was beautiful and I loved the connection between Laurence and Temeraire and the humor that shone through in their conversations sometimes. It is not a full five stars for me because I could not really connect with the side characters and some story parts fell bit flat for me.