I do love this series. But the long, several chapter fight scenes, I just do not like. Long fight chapters are basically just a short book of art, nothing story happens.
Art's cool, but it's not why I read. I read to pickup on facial expressions and hear thought monologues, not look at pictures.
Art's cool, but the silent whisper is an obvious plot device that just doesn't excite me. Such an obvious plot device "ooh we planned this earlier, you have fallen for my trap card", is not intriguing, it's predictable.