Down a peg from my 5 Star rating of Fourth Wing. I struggled at times slogging through this book. It was evident that a lot of what was put into the novel was there to pad it out and elongate it for the third book, from memory this was originally marketed as a Duology. The first 200 pages to me realistically didn't even need to be there, and the gaps between actual story progression were dull and drawn out. I did however still love the narrative and am excited to continue on with Onyx Storm when it releases.