The writing is not great: terrible adverb abuse, random chunks of info-dumping... 
 And the worst is the massive narrative cheat of Rose and Lissa's bond which conveniently lets the reader see scenes that Rose couldn't be involved in. (I liked the bond concept, and think it's pretty interesting, particularly since it's a bond between friends that makes their friendship something unusual, in a way deeper than a romantic relationship, I just didn't like the way the execution felt like a big fat cheat for the story.) 
 BUT... 
 DAMMIT, I actually really enjoyed this. Rose is a fun narrator, and so appreciated her confidence and her crappy attitude and her loyalty. I really liked some of the things Mead does with female sexuality, slut shaming, and the like. And the political stuff is pretty interesting. 
 ALSO... 
 DAMMIT, I actually liked the Rose-Dimitri story, which would usually ick me out, but it makes so much sense because they're kind of in the same place, you know? 
 Anyway, I listened to this audiobook while I had an awful four-day flu, so I was slightly delusional while I was listening. I feel like I need to make that disclaimer. But, anyway, I'm glad the narrator is Kristine Hvam (whose narration I really like) in the rest of the series, but I did not care for the narrator in this book--she makes Lissa sound incredibly whiny at inappropriate times.