The author read Pern and said "I want to do that, but YA". Fortunately for her, Pern did something to my brain as a child. Not high literature, by any means, but I appreciated what was done differently—"tall, dark, and dangerous" was actually not really an asshole at all, whereas the childhood friend-turned-love-interest was kind of a dick for most of the book (and, weirdest of all, Violet knew it). I also appreciated that the (and this is hardly a spoiler)

"I am in the uncontrollable throes of dragon lust" moment didn't turn out quite as rape-y as it was in Pern, looking back

. If it weren't such a straight-up clone of Pern with, just, all the YA-semi-dystopia tropes, it might have snuck into 4.5 stars, but still very good.