I liked this book more the second time round as I did not do the tandem read this time. Yrene is amazing and I loved watching her grow as a character as this book went on. Chaol still annoys me and I still don't like him. I loved Nesryn's POV and how she grew and changed as the book went on. Not Still my least fav book in the series, but it does get a low 4 star rating from me.

Quotes:
- “A gift. A gift from a queen who had seen another woman in hell and thought to reach back a hand. With no thought of it ever being returned. A moment of kindness, a tug on a thread.”
- “Aelin frightens everyone…But not him. I think that’s why she fell in love with him, against her best intentions. Rowan beheld all Aelin was and is, and he was not afraid”
- “Using the chair is not a punishment. It is not a prison,' he said softly. 'It never was. And I am as much of a man in that chair, or with that cane, as I am standing on my feet.' He brushed away the tear that slipped down her cheek. 'I wanted to heal you,' she breathed. 'You did,' he said, smiling. 'Yrene, in every way that truly matters . . . You did.' Chaol wiped away the other tears that fell, brushing a kiss to her hot cheek.”
- “Here, with her, he was home.”
- “Sartaq chuckled. “I did. But I also told him that the woman I love now plans to head into war. And I intend to follow her.”
- “Then it is a good thing, Yrene Towers, that I love you as well.”
- “I think she was a god... I never learned her name. She only left a note with two lines. "For wherever you need to go - and then some. The world needs more healers." - Yrene, about Aelin”
- “Nesryn Sobbed, tugging and tugging. Sartaq smiled at her ــ gently. Sweetly. In a way she had not yet seen. "I Loved you before I ever set eyes on you," he said. "Please," Nesryn wept. Sartaq's hand tightened on hers. "I wish we'd had time." A Hiss behind him, a rising bulk of shining black ــ Then the prince was gone. Ripped from her hands. As if he had never been.”
- “Nesryn supposed that was why she liked the queen: there were plans so long in the making that for someone who let the world deem her unchecked and brash, Aelin showed a great deal of restraint in keeping it all hidden.”
- “She would have an adventure. For herself. This one time. She would see her homeland, and smell it and breathe it in. See it from high above, see it racing as fast as the wind. She owed herself that much.”
- “- Good luck to anyone who tries to go after Rowan Whitethorn. - Because Aelin will burn them to ash? - Because Rowan Whitethorn will always be the person who walks away from that encounter. Not the assailant.”

Tropes:
- Disability Rep