I got this book at Half-Price Books the other day, only because I remembered to bring the list I made of authors and books I needed to look for. *applauds self* Only happens once in a blue moon. Next time I go, I will be picking up any of the Books of Bayern that I see, even if it's number four. Normally when I read series, I'll buy book one, read, book two, read, book three, read, etc. But I can't risk letting these slip away, and possibly buying book two and NOT HAVING BOOK THREE!!! Which is also why I have Cinder and Cress but not Scarlet. Terrible, terrible me. But let's move on... 
 I was super excited and nervous to start reading this, mostly because it sounded sooo good, and I wanted it to live up to that. I'm quite sure it did. 
 As usual, major potential spoilers within spoiler tags. 
 The Good 
 -The characters. Gravy, I loved Ani. And Talone. Conrad was pretty rad too. (See what I did there? :P) Pretty much everybody was appropriately loved/hated. I love how much Conrad came around in the end. 
 -Talking to animals. Talk about awesomeness! I loved the bird speaking stuff, but as a horse person, I really loved everything with Falada. And yes, horses care very little for the world of humans. Very, very little. (view spoiler)[My love for Falada is probably what made me not want to believe he was dead. At all. If there was one thing I could change about this book, Falada's death would be it. But that should be in the bad section, so I'll shut up now. (hide spoiler)] 
 -The worldbuilding. Such. A. Gorgeous. World. I am so jealous, and I now want to move to Bayern, thank you very much. Kildenree sounds awesome too, but Bayern's even better. Also, the fact that I remember the names is also really good. ;) 
 -The plot. Oh, how I loved it. Heartbreak, heartache, and such a perfect ending. 
 -Enna. Duh, I know the title of the next book. I loved how Hale worked in Enna. Makes me even more excited for Enna Burning. 
 (view spoiler)[-Betrayal. I was SO SO ANGRY at Selia. HOW COULD SHE??? But there were hints, and I applaud Hale for her wit. Also, how her own punishment designed for Ani came back to bite her in the rear (close to literally). 
 -The wind-speaking. SO COOL!!! After Ani finally figures it out, it's just... *sigh* Awesomeness. I am so jealous. 
 (hide spoiler)] 
 The Bad 
 -...not enough??? I wish there would have been more of everything. However, sequels. *wiggles eyebrows* 
 (view spoiler)[-Dying-not-dying. From here on out, I shall be calling this "Marvel Syndrome". Only a small case of this, with Talone, and I seriously, completely forgive this, because I love him so much. 
 -Geric as prince. I guessed this ages before. Especially when I found out the "prince" was so young. However, I thought that maybe Geric and the supposed prince had switched places or something. Clearly, much less complicated in the actually book. 
 (hide spoiler)] 
 The Ugly 
 There was a ton of blood in this one. Didn't bother me too much, but... death and goriness. (view spoiler)[And killing horses. *beats keyboard* (hide spoiler)] Also there's mention of a punishment that I can't exactly quote (and I'm too lazy to find it) that is quite, um, not fun. To say the least. Involves being dragged by horses and being in a barrel of nails. And a little more. I think that's all... 
 I ADORED this book. I have put it on my mental re-read-as-many-times-as-possible list, along with my BUY-SEQUELS-NOW list. And many others. If you haven't read this, go read it. And for the person/people who recommended this, THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE AMAZING. *wink*Chloe*wink*