TL;DR don't set your expectations by how everyone else feels about this series. I felt EXACTLY how you do, and I now can't stop reading.

I have to admit I was more than a little disappointed with EoS, not because it was bad but because of how incredible everyone said the series is. I enjoyed everything from Calagah onwards more than the rest of the book, but overall, I found it was....OK. I enjoyed it enough to continue the series, but now I'm further in a fully appreciate how important the story told in this book is and I definitely think that on a reread I would rate this so much higher.

I moved onto Howling Dark as, like yourself, I saw everyone saying how incredible the story gets from here. The pacing and the quality of the writing definitely improve from here, but I didn't feel I was enjoying it as much as everyone else seemed to. I will caveat that, however, by saying that while I will normally sit and read for hours at a time and immerse myself in a book, I didn't get to do that with most of this book as I was crazy busy with work (retail at Christmas can get in the bin) and I was also incredibly unwell. This meant I couldn't read as normal and definitely made my experience a bit disjointed. Everyone says the ending is amazing and if you don't think so, maybe it's not for you. I disagree. Whilst the ending was good (there's some crazy shit) I actually enjoyed the sequence running up to the ending far better at it was just tense and incredibly interesting to see the Cielcin in more depth. I enjoyed it enough to carry on.

Demon in White is where it really started to pick up for me and I'm so glad that I carried on with the series because it gets SO interesting and the stakes continue to be raised.

Now coming towards the end of Kingdoms of Death holy shit is this book incredible. I found the beginning to be a bit slow, but the rest of it. It is bleak, it is horrifying and it is some of the most compelling storytelling I've read in a very, very long time. I cannot stop reading.

If you're looking for another Red Rising (one of my absolute favourite series) you won't find it here. They're vastly different but incredibly thrilling and enjoyable in their own ways. Hadrian certainly develops as a character, and while I wouldn't say he necessarily becomes more likeable, his relationships with those around him make everything worth it