Heir of Fire is where this series starts to pick up, but every book is amazing. We get introduced to new charcters through new POVs, new side storylines and we learn more about Celaena and Aelin. I gave this book 4.5 stars as it is a bit slow and tiny bit boring at the start, but I loved the new POV's (especially Manon's). We also see Aelin looking back at her past and coming in to her own while Rowan teaches her to harness and use her powers.

Quotes:
- “She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”
- “I claim you, Rowan Whitethorn. I don't care what you say and how much you protest. I claim you as my friend.”
- “She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius—­and she would not be afraid.”
- “Because I am lost," she whispered onto the earth. "And I do not know the way.”
- “Their hands clasped between them, he whispered into her ear, "I claim you, too, Aelin Galathynius.”
- “I claim you, Aelin. To whatever end.”
- “As for Celaena," he said again, "you do not have the right to wish she were not what she is. The only thing you have a right to do is decide whether you are her enemy or her friend.”
- “She realized that Rowan saw each of those thoughts and more as he reached into his tunic and pulled out a dagger. Her dagger. He extended it to her, it's long blade gleaming as if he'd been secretly polishing and caring for it these months. And when she grasped the dagger, it's weight lighter than she remembered, Rowan looked into her eyes, into her very core of her, and said, 'Fireheart'.”
- “He'd known, since the moment he figured out who she was, that while Celaena would always pick him, Aelin would not.
- “I wish you to become who you ­were born to be. To become queen.”
- “That was when they noticed that every musician on the stage was wearing mourning black. That was when they shut up. And when the conductor raised his arms, it was not a symphony that filled the cavernous space. It was the Song of Eyllwe. Then Song of Fenharrow. And Melisande. And Terrasen. Each nation that had people in those labour camps. And finally, not for pomp or triumph, but to mourn what they had become, they played the Song of Adarlan. When the final note finished, the conductor turned to the crowd, the musicians standing with him. As one, they looked to the boxes, to all those jewels bought with the blood of a continent. And without a word, without a bow or another gesture, they walked off the stage. The next morning, by royal decree, the theatre was shut down. No one saw those musicians or their conductor again.”
- “All she knew was that whatever and whoever climbed out of that abyss of despair and grief would not be the same person who had plummeted in.”

Tropes:
- Enemies to Lovers
- One Bed
- Slow Burn
- Forced Proximity
- Touch Her And Die

This book gives us some backstory about Cardan as a child and about him as a teen and young adult. I did not expect to like this book as much as I did as it was a short book full of short stories about Cardan's life, but it was really good and a fun, easy read. I definitely recommend that everyone who has read books 1 to 3 of this trilogy to now read this book!!

Quotes:
- “You didn’t get what you deserved, but you don’t have to live inside that one story forever. No one’s heart has to remain stone.”
- “Playing the villain was the only thing he’d ever really excelled at.”
- “I am not weak, he wanted to shout, but he wasn’t sure he could say that aloud, either”
- “Remember, all you really get to control is yourself.”
- “So long as you’re begging, he doesn’t mind a bit.”
- “Cardan ought to have been the boy with the heart of stone in Aslog’s story, but somehow he had let his heart turn to glass.”
- “I am nothing if not dramatic.”
- “I’m afraid I may have set one of the guests on fire.”

Tropes:
- Enemies to Lovers

This book was so hyped up and the hype did not disappoint. The book was slow at times but it was so good, I love the main characters and loved how they developed and grew close as the book went. The ending had me SHOCKED, I desperately need the second book but the kindle version is expensive and I don't like hardback </3. I highly recommend this book to those who like YA books and YA fantasy!!

Quotes:
- “It takes courage to let down your armor, to welcome people to see you as you are. Sometimes I feel the same as you: I can’t risk having people behold me as I truly am. But there’s also a small voice in the back of my mind, a voice that tells me, “You will miss so much by being so guarded.”
- “I am coming to love him, in two different ways. Face to face, and word to word.”
- “I don’t want to wake up when I’m seventy-four only to realize I haven’t lived.”
- “I love the words I write until I soon realize how much I hate them, as if I am destined to always be at war within myself.”
- “I never told you that I love you. And I regret that, most of all.”
- “My favorite season is autumn, because my mum and I both believed that’s the only time when magic can be tasted in the air.”
- “She has to survive this, Roman thought. He didn’t want to live in a world without her and her words.”
- “Let us make our names exactly what we want them to be.”

Tropes:
- Work Rivals
- Rivals to Lovers
- Found Family
- Slow Burn

I was not a fan of Damon during the first two books, however after reading this book my opinion changed forever which is why I gave it 4.25 stars! Damon went through so much trauma, especially the trauma that his mom caused and my heart broke forever. Damon is my fav MMC yet in this series, and I cannot wait to read the other books!! I highly recommend this series if you like dark romance - but do not read it if you have never read dark romance before.
Quotes:
- “Because pain in the body quiets the pain in the head. It feels good, like a kill switch for your brain.”
- “This is black,” he said. “Fear, falling, release. Excitement, risk, danger.”
- “What’s your tattoo?” I asked quietly, remembering how my friend noticed he had one. He didn’t say anything for a moment, or ask how I knew, but then he answered, “A decaying snowflake.” I raised my eyebrows. A decaying… “Why?” I asked. “Because of Winter by Walter de la Mare,” he replied softly. “Something still beautiful, even after what I did to her.”
- “The world respected people who didn’t crave approval.”
- “I’m stronger now,” I whispered. “I won’t let you fall.”
- “that’s what red feels like. Anger and fury and heat and need so strong you’re a fucking animal, Winter. It’s primal.”
- “We’re going to rule the world, Rika.” I held out my hands, grinning. “You, Banks, and me.”
- “Having Damon around was the only time I ever felt solid in my life,” he told me. “He’s powerful. But painful.”
- “I might kiss you again when we're older," he says. "Just so you know.”

Tropes
- Masked MMC
- Blind FMC

I gave this book 4.25 stars as it was a lot better than the first book which did bore me. I do love Jacks but I definitely prefer the MMC's from the 'Caraval' trilogy more and I do prefer that trilogy more than this one. This series is overrated but its still good. I would recommend the Caraval trilogy over this series any day.

Quotes:
- “In the morning, you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you don't like me, and I can pretend that I don't care. But for tonight, let me pretend you're mine.”
- “Where were you?” she asked. “I was killing innocent maidens and kicking puppies.” “Jacks, that’s not funny.”
- “I wish our story could have had another ending.”
- “Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasure with wings. They are wild, feral, reckless things that need to be constantly chased, or they will certainly run away.”
- “I do not want you dead, and I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
- “Jacks no longer felt like her enemy, he felt like her home.”
- “Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days.”
- “Sorry to break your fairytale, Little Fox, but ballads don't end happily, and neither do the two of us.”
- “Nothing has been safe since the moment I laid eyes on you. And yet I don't want to look away.”
- “I swear this is what I really want.” He spoke each word like a vow. “I want to erase every moment you and I have spent together, every word you’ve said to me, and every time I’ve touched you, because if I don’t, I’ll kill you, just like I killed the Fox.”
- “The truth is never what you want it to be, Little Fox.”
- “Are you jealous of Luc?' 'I thought we'd already covered that yesterday. I'm always jealous. And so are you.”
“She tried to take comfort in the books. Stories had always felt as if they were her friends. But all these stories felt like distant relations to the tales she knew.”

Tropes:
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- One Bed
- Forbidden Romance

This book was so much better than I remember it being which is the reason I gave it 4.25 stars!! This gave so much backstory on Celaena, Sam and Arobynn and I adored it. My heart broke for Sam and Celaena during this book, especially at the ending as no one deserves that. I definitely recommend reading this book 3rd (after TOG and COM) as it reads the best way in this order.

Quotes:
- “If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it- to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger.”
- “My name is Celaena Sardothien," she whispered, "and I will not be afraid.”
- “She would tuck Sam into her heart, a bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest.”
- “I love you,” he repeated, shaking her again. “I have for years. But if I asked you to pick, you’d choose Arobynn, and I. Can’t. Take. It.” “You’re a damned idiot,” she breathed grabbing the front of his tunic. “You’re a moron and an ass and a damned idiot." He looked like she had hit him. But she went on, and grasped both sides of his face. “Because I’d pick you.”
- “My name is Sam Cortland... and I will not be afraid.”
- “The girl who'd taken on a Pirate Lord and his entire island, the girl who'd stolen Asterion horses and raced along the beach in the Red Desert, the girl who'd sat on her own rooftop, watching the sun rise over Avery, the girl who'd felt alive with possibility...that girl was gone.”
- “You want to know what price I asked for forgiving Arobynn, Celaena?" Sam stood so still the he might have been a statue. "My price was his oath that he'd never lay a hand on you again. I told him I'd forgive him in exchange for that.”
- “Sam's hand brushed her shoulder, and she almost jumped out of her skin as he brought his mouth close to her ear and murmured, "You look beautiful. Though I bet you already know that." She most certainly did.”
- “She just prayed Sam wouldn’t get hurt. In the silence of her bedroom, she swore an oath to the moonlight that if Sam were hurt, no force in the world would hold her back from slaughtering everyone responsible.”
- “Never get to see that half smile. Never get to hear his laugh, never get to hear him say her name like it meant something special, something more than being Adarlan's Assassin ever could.
She didn't want to go out into a world where he didn't exist. So she watched the light shift and change, and let the world pass by without her.”
-

“She wouldn't leave him like this, in this cold, dark room.
She yanked out of Arobynn's grasp. Wordlessly, she unfastened her cloak and spread it over Sam, covering the damage that had been so carefully inflicted. She climbed onto the wooden table and lay beside him, stretching an arm across his middle, holding him close.”

Tropes:
- Assassin FMC
- Failed Love
- MMC Death </3

Like most of the other books in this series, I gave them 4 stars. Sebastian and Yelena had amazing character development in this book, and I adore how they loved each other when they weren't supposed to. Sophie Lark is an amazing author, and if you are new to dark romance then I definitely recommend her books as they are on the 'lighter' side of the dark romance genre. I cannot wait to read the series about the children of the couples that were in this series!

Quotes:
- “There’s no pleasure quite like reading, is there? Sometimes it’s the only thing that eases my mind.”
- “If you finish that sentence, I will strangle you,” I hiss at Aida. “Cal, you wouldn’t let him strangle me, would you?” Aida says to her husband. “Not to death,” he replies.”
- “What did you say to that guy?” “What?” “When you kicked him—what were you saying?” “Oh.” She shakes her head impatiently. “It means . . . something like ‘May a dick grow on your forehead.”
- “My father betrayed the Gallos. He betrayed me, too. And my brother tried to kill the man I love. He put a gun to Sebastian’s head. He tried to pull the trigger. And the rest of them . . . I don’t know how many died.”
- “I’m still wearing my wedding dress, but the tiara I wore in my hair, the one that belonged to my mother—that’s gone.”
- “I’m a mafia daughter, too,” she says. “I know how little power you have in your own life . . . until you rip it out of a man’s hands.”
- “Ah! I know your brother Nero. We raced each other once.” Sebastian grins. “Did you win?” Grisha scowls. “No! He’s a tricky fucker. Took 20K from me.” “That sounds like Nero,”
- “It’s her car, by the way, she’s just letting us borrow it today.” “That’s brave of you,” I say to Camille. “Have you seen him drive?” Camille grins. “If he runs into anything, I know how to fix it.”
- “Whatever happens after this, Sebastian will be my first lover, now and always.”

Tropes:
- Mafia Romance
- Forbidden Love
- Happily Ever After
- Revenge Plot
- Secrets and Betrayal

THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING!! I read this book in 2023 on my kindle, but I reread it as a paperback and decided to annotate and tab it as its such an amazing book. I love Paedyn and her backstory and I adored her interactions with Kai. This book was such a masterpiece that I just had to give it 5 stars. I need everyone to go read this book rn as it is just amazing. I cannot wait for 'Powerful' and 'Reckless' to come out this year!

Quotes:
- “She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine. And I can feel myself drowning.”
- “If I am to be her enemy, I want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.”
- “And I’ll save your life again and again, aimlessly hoping you will allow me to stay in it.”
- “Mark my words, Prince, I will be your undoing.” I lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as I murmur, “Oh, darling, I look forward to it.”
- “For every girl who has ever felt powerless”
- “What do you want to call me?” “I want to call you mine.”
- “I’m going to ask again. Who did this to you?”
- “Oh, darling, as long as you still think I’m pretty, I don’t give a damn what I look like.”
- “I love when you threaten to kill me, do you know that?” “Oh? And why is that?” The corner of his mouth twitches up. “Because every time you don’t, it only proves that you don’t want to.”
- “This girl might be the death of me. Literally.”

Tropes:
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Romance

I adore Sophie Lark's books, they are so easy to read and follow. I saw this on KU and loved the title so I decided I had to start reading it, and it was so good. I loved Mara and Cole, and I cannot wait to finish reading their story in book 2 of this duet. I adore dark romance and this hit a spot I was not getting with normal romance and fantasy books.

Quotes
- “An eternity of boredom sounds worse than death. And heaven sounds pretty fucking boring.”
- “Absolutely I do. He disrespected you. Put his hands on you. I’d kill him for much less.”
- “She’s more twisted than I ever dared dream.”
- “And I realize . . . she’s everything I dreamed of and more. More vengeful. More strategic. More effective. More fucked up.”
- “Sometimes you have to kill what you love.”
- “I do not love men: I love what devours them. That actually makes me laugh. I haven’t laughed in some time.”
- “My desire to bring Mara there shows me how far this obsession has grown. Bringing her into my house is like bringing her inside my own body. A far more intimate act than simply fucking her .”
- “I don’t want to be taken care of,” she says. “I want to be seen.”
- “If I could sculpt her exactly like this, it would be my greatest work.”
- “The pain enhances the pleasure, and the pleasure enhances the pain.”

Tropes:
- Serial Killer 
- Artist FMC and MMC
- FMC hates MMC at first
- Stalker MMC
- Obsessive MMC

I have been reading the PJO universe since I was 10 or 11, and it has such an amazing chokehold on my life. It will forever be AMAZING, and I never want the universe to end. I loved this book, and I gave it 4.25 stars and I love how Apollo finally got his godly self and powers back. I am sad that Percy didn't appear as much as I hoped, but I do adore how we got to meet baby Estelle.

Quotes
- “No story ever ends, does it? It just leads into others.”
- “So, dear reader, we have come to the end of my trials. You have followed me through five volumes of adventures and six months of pain and suffering. By my reckoning, you have read two hundred and ten of my haiku. Like Meg, you surely deserve a reward. What would you accept? I am fresh out of unicorns. However, anytime you take aim and prepare to fire your best shot, anytime you seek to put your emotions into a song or poem, know that I am smiling on you. We are friends now. Call on me. I will be there for you.”
- “At last, as the sun went down, Meg seemed to understand it was time for me to leave. “You’ll come back?” she asked. “Always,” I promised. “The sun always comes back.”
- “Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my glow-in-the-dark boyfriend.”
- “Nico laughed, which I didn’t know he was capable of.”
- “Dude!” Percy stuffed a cookie in his mouth. His eyes rolled up in ecstasy. “Apollo, you’re the best. I take back almost everything I’ve said about you.” “It’s quite all right,” I assured him. “Wait…what do you mean almost?”
- “Rachel pulled out a blue plastic hairbrush and threw it at the nearest barbarian, beaning him in the eye and making him howl. Sorry I underestimated you, Rachel, I thought distantly. You’re actually kind of a hairbrush ninja.”
- “William Andrew Solace,” Nico said, “do you have something to confess?”
- “CONGRATULATIONS, PERCY THE GRADUTE! I did not ask why graduate was misspelled, dyslexia being so common in demigod families."