A review on the back cover calls this book "the Pride and Prejudice of the dragon world". That scared me. I have read that book, and found it mostly boring but with a charming ending and message. 
 Tooth and Claw is a Victorian-style story about dragons living much the way Victorian Europe did. It's complete with thick narration, characters saying a lot but never actually talking to each other (etiquette it's called), marriage being the be all and end all of life, and lots and lots of family relations to keep straight. 
 Jo Walton is good at writing in the Victorian style. So good that I couldn't stop myself from imagining the females wearing corsets and dresses and the males wearing suits and ties. I had to take breaks from reading the first half because it's so thick--actually difficult to read, just like every Victorian novel I've read (proving the author eats, sleeps and breathes this era). 
 But I have to admit that just like in Pride and Prejudice I grew to care about the characters. I woke up in the morning hoping Selendra would be able to blush for Sher; that Avan would marry Sebeth in spite of her tainted social rank. It's an enjoyable book, but only if you're willing to trudge through the thick narration and get to the second half, where the pace picks up. 
 I don't care for Victorian literature. I prefer people being open and honest instead of hiding in fake etiquette and social rank. And I also prefer styles where descriptive brevity dominates the prose instead of flowery eloquence. Victorian authors use as many words as possible in a single breath to express the simplest thoughts. Maybe they thought it made them sound educated? Today it's just the opposite. The fewer words you use, the more refined you seem. But sometimes the eloquence does have a nice charm to it.