Before I start, I have a confession. I bought this book for the beautiful cover art. But once I got into it, I realized that I would enjoy reading it over and over. Well, only certain parts over and over.
This book has moments of brilliance, and moments of that make no sense whatsoever. Without telling any details, Mercedes Lackey created...almost graphically accurate descriptions of the selfish prince that sleeps with any girl he sees. The ending...well I'll get back to that.
The moments of brilliance are worth reading the, obscure, other parts. Her character development of Odile is beautifully written. In fact, it's the reason I've re-read the book so many times! Accurately writing the change the mindset of a frosty, obediant daddy's girl into a heroine is a feat, and to do it without sacrificing the subplot made the book fascinating.
But I'm not rating the book with a 4 or a 5 because of the ending. As I read the ending, I was unable to keep track of the impressive character development that had been displayed previously in the book. A rushed, mindless climax was ironically, quite anticlimactic. After reading through over one hundred pages of thought-provoking character development, to see it all thrown away in less than thiry was rather disconcerting, and made the rest of the book a rather disappointing read.
My final words are to read it, suffer through the ending, then go back to your favorite part and only read that from then on.