I admit, for as many problems as I find with this series, I can't help but reread all the books when the next one comes out. Yarros excels at page-turning romantasy; it's easy to burn through one or two hundred pages without spending much time or thought. Still, there are some recurring problems that keep me from loving these books fully.

If I had to choose one area of concern, it would be dialogue. First of all, this could be more personal preference than anything - maybe I'm just too much of a Wheel of Time and Sanderson girl at heart - but the gratuitous swearing takes me out of the story. I get that not every fantasy author wants to use unique in-world curse words, but when there's five or six curses on a page, every page, it's hard to stay present in a supposed fantasy setting. Also, the conversations often stray from believability or allowing us as the audience to make decisions for ourselves. For example, after an over-the-top dramatic exchange in chapter 4 between Xaden and Dain that feels more like a wish fulfillment fantasy than a real scene, a character named Nadine has to tell us, "that was hot," and then Imogen responds even more directly, "love triangles can get so f-ing awkward, don't you think?" I understand that Yarros wants to provide an accessible fantasy that can be read by anyone, but that doesn't mean the audience needs to be so obviously spoon-fed; in my opinion, that style is more off-putting than helpful. 

Also, I don't think I've felt the impact of most of the deaths in this series because Violet's narration is often unnecessarily callous. She dwells on it when it's convenient to the plot, and then five seconds later, any stakes, danger, or death will be forgotten as she speculates when she can next get Xaden in bed. The frustrating stagnation of their relationship does nothing to stop the repeated focus of other characters on the romance: even within the fictional universe, the audience has to be constantly reminded to care about Violet and Xaden together, while the actual critical politics and hard decisions are skirted around or summarized in oblique references, never to be expanded unless Violet gives a convenient info-dump.

So much about the setup in this series could be quickly poked apart. As just one example: "Seventy-one candidates fall from the parapet...four more than our year." Violet says this casually, maybe even proudly, which is crazy. Why does a war college make that many untrained volunteers die without giving them any training? Why would more die in a year without rain? If the parapet is so dangerous to kill that many people, how can Violet easily cross it barefoot in a dress a few months later just to spend more time with the boy she can literally both sense the presence of and hear talk in her mind?

However, I don't want to overlook the fact that what this book is about - romance between dragon-riders - it does deliver. Overall, this is a good time if you don't look too closely. There's a lot that's done well and/or is just plain fun to read. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up rereading this series again.