[A quick note: I’m slowly working through the ToG series. I know it’s a longer series and so I’m doing one book a month. It was near torture to wait weeks before getting to dive into this. Worth the wait, but now I’m back in the same boat, waiting eagerly for the next one.]
“𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆--𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎.” —Sarah J Maas
Celaena Sardothian is back in the empire and ready for revenge. She’s had plenty of time to plot out the perfect plan. She has also embraced her identity, but it’s not just her kingdom that needs rescuing. Before she can reclaim her throne, she must free her cousin and build her court. She finds unlikely allies and new secrets along this heart pounding journey to save those who need rescuing and take back what belongs to her.
I could not put this book down. I could not stop thinking about it. And even days after I’ve finished it, thoughts of it still consume me. I continued to be impressed by SJM’s growth over this series. It’s clear that with each book, she has grown as an author. The layers of plot complexity in Aelin’s plans for revenge and rescue blew me away. It gave me so much joy. The foreshadowing was brilliant. And I always fond myself a little surprised at the ways Aelin pulled things off—surprised but impressed. I couldn’t stop thinking about how well she carried out each of her master plans. This was my favorite aspect of the book! I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop thinking about this story for weeks.
Second favorite was the dynamic between Aelin and Rowan’s relationship and character development. Most of the book was Rowan fighting “forbidden love” because of his age and immortality as a Fae. I always do like a good forbidden/tortured love trope. I never grew tired of their banter and dialogue.
It was fun following the other characters too. I didn’t mind the POV switches quite as much in this book compared to Heir of Fire. I have really grown to love Manon’s character. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her transformation.
The ending of this book made me so happy. It gave me lots of feels. Overall, I don’t think I’m going to go into depth dissecting this book like I often do in reviews. It was great. A new favorite of mine. I loved every page. Absolutely fantastic! This series is...wow. 𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝟱/𝟱⭐️