This book was the book that I have been wanting to read without knowing that's what I was wanting to read. 
 I didn't vote for this book during my book club's nominations for the month. I read the description and thought, "meh." Dragon science? I never liked science. 
 I am so glad I was wrong about this and decided to give it a go anyway. Our protagonist is the female protagonist I have been waiting for. She's strong without being surly, funny without being ridiculous, intelligent without being inhumanly infallible. It's written in first person, which I typically loathe, but it's 1st person from the perspective of our protagonist late in life. This gives an interesting degree of separation from the narrator and the heroine that just plain works. I loved that we saw her mistakes as well as her successes. The fact that things didn't work out completely perfectly made the story feel real and the stakes feel higher without that sensation that the author is just torturing her characters. This is the first story I've read all year that brought me to tears. 
 I can see where it isn't for everyone, and the hot and cold reviews are a testament to that. I would recommend to anyone remotely interested to check out the "look inside" that is available on Amazon and see if it is up your alley. I knew from the first couple of chapters that I would love it.