Best one yet! This is her Prisoner of Azkaban aka: the writing and worldbuilding catch up to an engaging story with characters we already love. I need a little more time to process and write a coherent review that isn't full of all-caps, exclamation points, and spoilers.3 weeks later and I've read so many despairing (and overlong, repetitive) 2* and 1* reviews that I had to speak up for those of us who loved OS.For some context, I grew up a fantasy reader. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Dragonriders of Pern, Game of Thrones, Wayfarer Redemption, Valdemar, Sword of Truth. I only came to romance in my late 20s and romantasy later. However, many of the above-mentioned books HAD romance, it was just rarely explicit and rarely focused on a trope. I got into the Empyrean series reluctantly as I'm not on TikTok and didn't like Throne of Glass so I avoid hype books.I loved Fourth Wing. Sure it was in a war college with twenty-somethings and was incredibly dramatic as that age group often is. But the magic system was interesting, I love dragon bonds, and Yarros had created a world that could grow along with plenty of rich characters.In IF we got outside of college and met another country and the gryphons. Great, that's growth. As well, our lovers are torn apart at times, that's normal 2nd book romance. Imogen, Rhiannon, and Mira are fleshed out a bit. Violet learns about her magic and we learn why Andarna's special.In OS we get a huge expansion of the world and lore. I agree that the many gods were hard to follow at first but Hinduism has dozens of gods so this was manageable. Minor characters got growth (Ridoc, Aaric, Cat, Sawyer, and Garrick, love y'all) and our lovebirds are working toward a goal together. I LOVED the quest story! It was pure classic fantasy. They even gathered mysterious objects that will be of use later. Andarna had a whole story arc and we learn a heap more about dragon history and their impact on magic itself. Big news and potential major implications against the venin. Along with everything we learn from Theophanie (her name is fine, Aelin is ridiculous).Yes, there's another cliffhanger but now there's amnesia too? That's very different from IF! Violet and Xaden made a major relationship step and they both dug into their family history and trauma in different ways. These characters have to step up in different arenas beyond just battle. Violet has to lead, Xaden has to be emotionally vulnerable and politics plays a much bigger role, which was interesting and more mature.A lot of people also forget that middle books/movies are supposed to raise more questions than answers. Does no one remember Empire Strikes Back?! Han's missing, Luke lost a hand, Vader claims to be Luke's father, and new allies and planets have been introduced. For OS, I've had so much fun discussing theories and analyzing lines and references with friends. This is a rich book and an engaging world. It was never going to stay in a neat academy + romance box.