Reread for House of Flame and Shadow May 2023: I haven’t read this one specifically in a long time and I loved it. I love seeing the original three and all of the emotions of working out where they fit into each other’s lives. Lots of feels. And I just love that ending. EVERY TIME.

Note: Review may contain spoilers. I have read this series 3 or 4 times. I have no chill over this series. This is a re-read I’m doing specifically before KoA comes out in October.

TALK ABOUT BREAKING SOMEONE DOWN.
I feel like everyone was hurt in this book.

Nehemia sacrificing herself for the greater good of the world, still hurts my feelings. I thought she was a cool side character and was going to play a bigger role overall.

CHAOL. Who, by the way, I pronounced as ‘coal’ rather than ‘kay-all’ for the longest time before I decided I should say his name “correctly”. I still think Coal sounds better.

He made a few too many choices towards the King, and watching Calaena claw him, also tore me up. Of course, first read, ALL TEAM CHAOL. Now reading through, I get it. She wasn’t ready for Rowan. Chaol truly helped her heal from Sam, and while it ended poorly, it added more depth to both characters.

Calaena starts to have more feelings that continue to round out her character. I continually love her sassy, sarcastic, not-give-a, attitude. She holds her own. Especially when she drops down into a warehouse and WREAKS HAVOC on those who have stolen something from her.

I think this is one of the best books in the series. You know the characters well enough to feel for everyone. The action flows really well and you continually flips pages trying to soak it all in.

Love scenes that are minor descriptive, kiss/make-out scenes. Violence, torture, and language (I do appreciate that SJM uses phrases like swore colorfully, rather than using F* words, but other language is present). I think language needs to be wielded in a way that isn’t over-bearing, but that actually encourages a scenes emotions.