in so many books where the side characters don't have too much of a personality and are just kind of there, but they do a good job of making them their own people that you end up caring about. 

 

Violet is a cool character, and you emphasize with her a lot in the decisions she makes. I loved seeing her sink into the new reality that she is placed in and learn to accept it even though so many people were going against her. For the large majority of the book she stuck to who she was and what she believed in. It was cool seeing how she utilized her knowledge that many other people didn't have to win the games. 

 

Dain was a pretty complex character and I really appreciated it. I think you spend a lot of the book going back and forth between whether he is a bad person or night, and it's nice that it's not just thrust in your face. Showing not telling and seeing Mira battle her opinions of him is just perfect. You can see his motivations, understand him most of the time and get to figure out for yourself if he is a good man or not. 

 

Xaden is kind of a disappointment though. I feel like he was a copy and pasted version of so many other men we have seen in romantasy books and I would have liked to have seen more from his character. We never actually get an explanation of why he loved her and it was pretty annoying. Just the classic “from first sight I was obsessed with her” type of thing. Also him just flat out not showing his feelings towards her, especially in the last part of the book, was very annoying. There were some extremely cute parts between them that kept me absolutely hooked though. 

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FATAL FLAW 

 

I cannot talk about this book without talking about something that I absolutely couldn't stand about and had me throwing my book across the room several times. This came in the last 100 pages of the book and was so out of place for Miras' character. The fact that she WOULD NOT STOP BEGGING HIM TO LOVE HER was the worst thing in the world. I was so cringy and stupid and kind of ruined their whole love thing. LIKE even if you knew for a fact that he loved her, why would she beg him?? It was just a sexist thing that I couldn't stand. Ladies, if you ever find yourself begging for a man like that. RUN. 

 

Another thing I didn't like was its predictability at the end. I could have guessed from a mile away that there was going to be some big plot twist that “changed her opinion of the world” and “changed her opinion on him.” It was disappointing because you see it in every single fantasy book and I just wanted something different. I think it made it even worse that she accepted all of these massive changes and revelations in the span of about three pages. Granted it was a cool plot twist, but I think everyone could have guessed it from a mile away. 

 

THE SETTING 

 

The world building and setting of the place was amazing. I could picture so easily how everything looked, it was like watching a movie in my brain. The atmosphere of the world is amazing. The role that the dragons played in the universe was great and well explained. I loved the interactions Mira had with the dragons, and I honestly wished that there was more of that. It would have been cool to see their relationship develop more, and I hope that that happens in the next book. 

 

THE SMUT 

 

I loved the “spicy” scenes in this book. It was a good build up and definitely delivered on the sexy time that you would want. Probably the most wild romantasy scenes I have seen in any of the books, and was very well done. 

 

TO SUM UP

 

It is definitely worth a read. It did not win goodreads romantasy of the year for nothing. It is full of cool characters, vivid settings, good plot and great premise that will get you hooked on every chapter. Just be warned that the last 100 pages will probably have your blood boiling and yelling at the characters.