This started out pretty good, but then it stayed mostly flat. The MCs fell in love with each other, but they barely interacted. It didn't make sense. I LOVED their friend group though, and I'd love to get the stories of the other couples, especially Dustin and Daphne.

Merged review:

This started out pretty good, but then it stayed mostly flat. The MCs fell in love with each other, but they barely interacted. It didn't make sense. I LOVED their friend group though, and I'd love to get the stories of the other couples, especially Dustin and Daphne.

DNF-it's well written and interesting; it's just too wordy. It was like following a conversation that starts out interesting but then meanders too far and you realize you've lost track of what the original subject was. I think this would have been much better with some serious editing.

This was much more depressing and sad than the lighthearted blurb and bright, colorful cover promised. The reality cooking show is briefly mentioned now and then. The majority of the book deals with the characters coming to terms with their tragic pasts with plenty of flashbacks to all the trauma. I liked it, but I wish I'd had a better understanding of what I was going to read.

I really loved this fantasy/romance for the most part. I mistakenly thought it was a YA book given the obvious similarities to Hunger Games and Divergent, but it's shelved as adult fiction at the library. It definitely straddles the line between adult and teen though I would say it leans more teen except for a couple pretty explicit sex scenes. Overall, it follows the formula laid out by so many excellent YA dystopian novels, but it has enough good dialog and great action to keep a reader hooked.

The good: great characters (even the supporting cast), cool dragons and magic, lots of action, a fmc with brains (for the most part), a big twist at the end making me eager for the next book

The not so good: a predictable love triangle, too much teenage angst, obvious bad guys who are rotten and will be defeated by the fmc, obvious bad guys who are really good guys, a cold btch of a mom for no apparent reason other than to make her daughter's life miserable, a complicated organization of the military that's never explained well

DNF-this wasn't what I expected. It didn't pull me in, but maybe I wasn't in the right mood? I might return to this and try again.

This maintains the world building, action and romance of the first book. Yet it still reads more like a teen book than an adult given the ages of the characters, the school setting, and the relationship angst.

The good:
I love the dragons and want more of Andarna, and I love the friendships of the squad. I'm so happy the love triangle was dissolved and the story arc for Dain resolved the way it did. There are two new characters that I really liked and want to see more of, and I loved the Archives heist. I really love how the books end with a chapter from Xaden's point of view and cliffhangers that make me eager for the next book.

The not so good:
The angst between Violet and Xaden dragged on too long, including the extended jealous ex plot line, and I don't think the storyline of Violet's mom was as poignant as the author hoped.