Im not quite sure how to rate this book, because it went from okay to boring to great.

The good:
Dalinar. Hands down he, Navani and Jasnah carried the book. I enjoyed the flashbacks and his POV's the most, I even liked the heavy politics focus. Definitely my favorite character in the series (so far). 
The ending, or the last 200 pages, was where the story really picked up. The fast pacing was a breath of fresh air after such a long, slow middle section. 

The bad: 
The middle was a slog. I had a hard time paying attention and caring for anything that happened in Kholinar. I really didn't gaf about the queens plot and found myself bored with both Shallan's and Kaladin's POV's. The worst of all was

Elhokar's death. While I enjoyed his recent character development, I really didn't care for when he died and was glad when they FINALLY left the city.

That being said, Shadesmar sadly wasn't any better. It felt too dragged out and would've been better as short insertions in one of the other character POV's, just like how the ending was structured.  

All in all, I cannot rate this higher than 4 stars, which is disappointing, because I think it had the most potential as it was a Dalinar focused book (love him frfr).

first 80% of the book 3.5/5
the last 20% 5/5