This a marked improvement over Iron Flame, though it also shared some of the drawbacks. In particular, this also had the feeling of being split down the middle with the action and story feeling a little outmatched in both halves. It also felt a bit weird to go "back to school" after the second half of the last book (not to mention having everyone still in their second year of school, all while still fighting a war).

While there's still some good spice to this book, the real relationships that pulled me through this book were Violet and her dragons. That's the stuff that had the power to make me cry. And I really liked that there was a little more development of the relationships that others have with their dragons, as well. There was also some interesting (and needed) world-building that I hope we'll see the fruits of in the future.