I have so many mixed feelings about this one.

To start, I like it so much better than House of Sky and Breath, but that isn't saying much to be fair. 

I feel like it started strong - I didn't even mind the rapid POV switching. I actually felt like it kept the pace moving more steadily than if we had been stuck with just one person, because in true SJM fashion it took forever for anything to really start happening. It also helped break up a lot of the info dumping that took place.

That being said - the crossover was ...fine. I wasn't a huge fan of ACOSF to begin with. (Don't come for me, I love a good tragic backstory and character arc, the whole thing just read like fanfiction) But it started to make a lot more sense if you think of it less as an ACOTAR book and more as a setup for HoFS.

I want to love Bryce, I really do. But she's just so so dumb, and it's infuriating that everyone around her is convinced she's so strategic and smart. A huge complaint I had from HoSB was that all of the action happens off page, we just learn about all the things Bryce did to save the day behind the scenes  while we were stuck following around some other jabroni. 
HoFS is better. SJM takes a more TOG approach in that we see seemingly inconsequential actions being taken, we just don't know the thought process behind those actions until the reveal down the road. That being said, I know I echo a lot of people when I say this.. Bryce is no Aelin. Maybe it's because people call Aelin out on her shit while everyone just fawns over Bryce (unless they're the bad guy) but almost all the "big moves" she made just feel superficial despite us being told we should be super impressed by it. Everyone acts like she's grown so much, but I don't think she's grown at all since the first book.

Bryce's and Hunt's dynamic was odd this book. It really felt like a case of me being told "trust me they're in love" rather than any actual chemistry. Bryce's complete dismissal of his hesitations was wild, and I don't even like Hunt all that much. 

Lydia carried the book and has never done anything wrong in her life ever.

The Autumn King arc just felt anti-climactic. We get flashes of possible emotions here and there but ultimately it amounted to nothing. 

I know this is a wild take, but I don't hate Ithan. I don't think he's great or reliable or anything, but I don't hate him. The Fendyr heir is who I think sucked. I was hoping for some sort of trauma arc for her to grow into anybody worth saving and instead she just made it a point to make everyone wish she was still trapped.

Tharion. I still think his decision to swear himself to the Viper Queen, on top of being an extremely dumb move for a supposed "head of intelligence" it also just made literally no sense. There were so many options and he picked and continued to pick the worst ones. He was supposed to be smart?


My last complaint (for now) is really just the ending. Not only did she just kind of spontaneously win against all the all powerful asteri, ("we're going to have a democracy!" - cool Bryce, where have you ever heard of a democracy before?) but I swear to god if one more character "dies" but then is brought back to life I might just be done reading SJM.
You can't crossover all your books and then reuse the same tired tropes between them. The emotional impact is just gone. People almost dying, or not dying at all but losing all their powers would be way more impactful than this same arc repeating over and over again.