litty_lydi's Reviews (123)

SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN AND THINGS HAVE KICKED OFF.
Give me time to process before I give you more than that.

Okay, I've processed (kind of, not really, more avoided because pain)

To start things off:
Did I enjoy this book? Yes!
Did it make me excited for the rest of the series? Hell yes.
Is it my favourite book of the series thus far? No, AKOFAF still holds that spot.
Was the book perfect for me? Also no.

The beginning first 10 or so chapters was amazing! Fast paced, non stop screaming "WTF" as things happened, felt like we hit the ground running. But then we got to the middle 50% of the book where it really dragged for me and felt repetitive. As someone who devoured the first two books in one sitting each because I couldn't put them down, I willingly put the book down around chapter 30 to take a break, as I felt like I was getting nowhere. I'd say after that point things started to pick back up again and I enjoyed that final 25% a hell of a lot, and I'm really looking forward to what comes next as the ending of this book set up some truly epic things for the remainder of the series.

If the middle had been cut in half this easily would've been a 5 star read for me! Still really looking forward to the remaining 3 books and the Flesh and Fire series!

Spoiler

Also, holy hell Poppy parentage reveal whiplash

After reading this and FBAA in a 24 hour period, I am now in the worst book hangover I've had in a very very long time ...
11/10 would recommend

I heard mixed reviews for this book and I now see why.

The first half I was sold. I loved the nautical vibes, the horror and supernatural elements. I was totally into it. But then half way through this genre shift happens that feels like it is coming completely from left field, and was not set up properly in the first half of the book to make it seem believable for me. My only comment for the entire second half was WTF, because I had no idea what was happening and it just did not feel like it fit in with the story the author set up.

The first half and second half of this book feel like they came from 2 completely different stories.

Also, I am the first to simp for a tall, dark, stranger named Cas, but that romance plot line felt unnecessary and just continued to add to the WTF element.

If you're in the mood for a wild rollercoaster ride where you feel like you have no idea what's happening, you'll probably enjoy this book. I just needed way more set up to have the plot twist make sense to me. In the end I felt left with way more questions than any answers.

I’ll probably come back and write a better review for this but first impressions: no one touch me or I’ll cry.

Best book of the series, had everything you could want and then some.

Writing out my full review below, any spoilers will be hidden, I'll probably continue to come back and add to this the more I process the book and with re-reads

Okay, coming back to this after sleeping on the book following an 11 hour reading binge. Took some time to process this book, what I liked, disliked and I think I'm good to finally make a somewhat solid review. I do plan on re-reading when I receive my physical copy so this is subject to change.

I stand by my initial conclusion that this is my favourite book in the ACOTAR series. There were parts that made me laugh, cry, blush, scream and throw my kindle across the room... it had a great mix of everything and overall a good book that told the story of Nesta and Cassians journey, both as independents and a couple.

I think I'd give this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads sake. The main driver that brings the rating down is that the ending was way too rushed. I thought the first half of the book had great pacing, even may of dragged in a couple sections, but that was fine. But the second half and the finale genuinely felt like someone pressed fast forward x3. There wasn't enough time to digest the resolution to the major plot points and it was one of those situations where you're reading and looking at the number of pages left and know that there's no way the author can resolve this properly in the amount of time that remains, which unfortunately was the case. The characters did not get the time to breathe and just be.

Speaking of the characters, I was a big fan of Nesta's character going into this, and still am. Watching her go on her personal journey of finding her love for herself and her own found family was emotional and held many gut wrenching moments, but also extremely heartwarming. The common ground and sisterhood she built with Emerie and Gwyn continues to bring a smile to my face.

With respect to her relationship with Cassian, I was 100% on board and I think the way their relationship began

Spoiler

as friends with benefits

made sense in context of the two characters and their dynamic that we've seen throughout the book. There were some important scenes that I felt were either rushed or non existent due to the stories latter half pacing that I really think should have been in there so truly round out the characters relationship.

This next section I'm going to touch on the Inner Circle's involvement, so will put it behind spoiler tags as I'll be delving into a bit more specifics.

Spoiler

When SJM originally posted the sneak peak for this book it was made clear they'd be going to the Illyrian Mountains, somewhere between then and now that plot changed for her and instead it switched to the House of Wind in Velaris. This switch resulted with the Inner Circle (IC) being more involved with the story than I had anticipated and I do wish there had been more separation between the two, which I think the originally plot of being in the Illyrian Mountains would have solved.

I do not think the Feysand pregnancy plot line needed to be in this book and I think it was there as a driver to (i) have the IC be involved more heavily in this story, (ii) give a reason for Nesta to "prove herself" (which I deem as unnecessary), (iii) provide a reason for Nesta to lose the bulk of her power so she's not stronger than Rhys and Feyre (which annoyed me).

I'm still grabbling with my thoughts on all of this, but will finish this off with the notion that I think more of the IC needed to apologize to Nesta for their behaviour, and I mean direct apologies. Especially Rhys and Amren. For me, this is a story of learning to forgive oneself but also acceptance of your flaws and pursuing a better you in the future. I think having those apologies would've really resounded with that message.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

I thought this was a solid YA fantasy story, and it kept a relatively fast pace throughout it.

Is it my favourite YA series? No. I'm not entitling in love with Alina and Mal as characters, so it's hard to be fully invested in that first person POV that Alina provides. I think if I had read this at the age the series is targeted for, 13-16, I may have felt a bit different about that and probably enjoyed them more.

So excited to finally be diving into this series, I'm so late but I don't even care.

Celeana has become one of my all time favourite characters!